Negima! Void Callers Chronicle
by Zeioinsanity
Summary: What would happen if you placed the Master Chief in the Negima! universe in a 15 year old body? Awesomeness that's what! Crossover madness awaits! -discontinued-
1. Chapter 1

Hi all! This is my first story on this site and I hope it isn't to horrible. Anyway, the idea for this story came to me at random while surfing the site.

Constructive criticism would be appreciated.

_Disclaimer:_** I do not own any of the respective properties below; unless they are OC's then they are mine and mine alone.**

_**Chapter 1: First Meetings!**_

Somewhere in Japan, 1:57 PM

A red headed boy stood in the middle of one of the many forests that lay on the grounds of Mahora Academy chanting in Latin softly. At 4'3 the young boy made a common sight, even if he was dressed in a suit fit for well-to-do business-men and stood with a confidence and bearing that no child should have been able to muster. Now, what was uncommon about the boy was that he was glowing with white light and that the Latin that he was chanting had taken on an eldritch echo and had somehow increased in volume even though he had not raised his voice in the slightest. Around his feet a circle had formed and pulsed with an unearthly green light while the voice of the boy continued to take on an odder timbre and pitch.

The boy's name was Negi Springfield and he was a teacher at the Academy. Negi was also something much more... he was a Magister Magi or a Mage. Negi had graduated from Magic school in Wales only to find out on graduation day he had been assigned to an English teaching position in an all girl school in Japan.

The order had come as an absolute surprise to him, his sister and his childhood friend. A few weeks later Negi had found himself on an international flight to Japan. A couple bus rides, crazy taxi drivers (You can find them in any country) and a few flight's on his mage staff, brought Negi to Mahora Academy during the morning rush to get to class. Negi was deeply impressed by the sheer size of the Academy, the campus was almost a city unto itself, and in fact Negi had been feeling such a deep sense of awe that he had let his mouth run wild. A comment about a nearby pigtailed and redheaded girl's face showing signs of unrequited love (through the use of physiognomy) caused the girl to pick Negi up by the top of his head get the word "brat" thrown at him seven or eight times before her friend talked her into putting him down.

That was how Negi had met Asuna. It had been a one event in a string of events that had lead Negi to reveal his secret to Asuna and that had lead her to eventually becoming a "Partner". She had helped Negi fight a former enemy of his father's and her Partner, who had been bound to the academy and had been dead set who had been to get her revenge on him and his students, Chachamaru and Evangeline. It had been one week since then and even though he and Asuna had won the fight, things had been quiet, too quiet.

The reason for Negi being out in a forest during his break was because of a certain mage turned ermine, Chamo, claiming to have a solution to his problem. Negi had turned Asuna into a partner reluctantly and only after much pestering by Chamo and Negi was still embarrassed about the kiss used to seal the deal. Negi did not want to Asuna to get involved anymore so when Chamo had produced a piece of parchment with the name of a tome of summoning magic and directions to retrieve the book from the Mahora Library he had decided to give it a shot. After a few hours searching the island-cum-library Negi had found the book listed on the piece of paper, "The Tome of Fading Twilight."

The tome turned out to have a great amount of information about a very powerful summoning spell called "Void Calling". The book mentioned that the spell would summon a powerful being who had been on the verge of death to help defend the Magister. Thinking that he would summon a dragon or some other magical creature, he decided to give the spell a try.

**Back to the present.**

Chamo watched from the bushes as Negi began the last two verse's of the spell. The magic circle glowed a different shade of green with every verse and pulsed in time with the Latin incantation. As Negi began to get closer and closer to the incantation's end, blue gold lighting played across the surface of the circle and Negi's voice took on a colossal boost in volume. As Negi whispered the last word softly, "Adeat", the circle exploded in light and sound that none who witnessed it could have described. A wave of wind knocked Negi off his feet and sent him flying out of the circle while a thin green pillar shot out of the circle into the sky.

Chamo screamed "Anaki! Are you alright Anaki? Talk to me! Anaki?" as he scurried off in Negi's direction to see if his self-proclaimed big brother was alright. Chamo discovered that while Negi was on his feet and none the worse for wear, being only knocked out of the circle (give or take a few feet), an emerald star had started to descend the green pillar. Chamo, seeing that they only had a few seconds until whatever was in that emerald star made contact with the ground, blurted "Anaki, let's hide until we can make sure it's safe!" Negi nodded his agreement and they both quickly shuffled off toward the nearby bushes dubious safety.

Negi and Chamo had barely made it to their intended hide when the unearthly star made contact with the magic circle. There was an overwhelming flash of light, which caused both Negi and Chamo to clamp their eyes tightly shut, then silence. Negi waited a few seconds, listening to the silence, and then slowly opened his eyes, daring not to breathe and slowly scanned the area. What Negi saw confused him, a person was standing in the location where he had cast the summoning spell.

Negi watched covertly as the person scanned his surroundings as if he were mildly surprised to be alive let alone in the middle of some strange forest. Negi eyed the strangers build, clothing and hair to get a hint of who this person was, let alone, why he was here. The first thing Negi noticed was that the person was tall, _very tall_, at least 6'4 with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He also noticed the way his muscles strained against his cloths that his muscle tone was that of someone who kept in _very_ good shape. The next thing he noticed was that the man was wearing a uniform of some sort, not cloths.

The uniform the stranger was wearing was of a deep green color and the design reminded Negi of a United States marine's dress uniform he had saw on television once. The uniform's shoulders sported green and gold epaulets with an emblem depicting an eagle flaring its wings and its talons clutching twin lighting blots in each claw.

The last thing that was odd about the stranger was his hair; it was silver, long, made up into a pony tail, and that it was braided all the way to the tip. One or two seconds had past as Negi observed the stranger who seemed to be growing more and more alert as the seconds went by. At the five second mark both Negi and Chamo decided it was probably safe to breath at this point and quietly sucked in a bit of air after closing their eyes.

After one or two seconds of breathing in and out to calm himself Negi opened his eyes and looked over the clearing again and was astounded to find the clearing empty. At first Negi thought that the man had vanished somehow, and then quickly dismissed the notion, then he thought that the man had somehow used a teleport spell to go somewhere and was debating if he should search for any remaining magical traces when a pair of scared and callused hands clamped around his mouth and body. Negi would of jumped at least a foot in the air if he been able to move, however the arm around his body and the hand on his mouth held him motionlessly in place.

A deep gruff voice whispered in his ear (in American accented English), "I won't hurt you if you cooperate. Blink once if you understand me." Negi blinked once. "Good, now I'm going to ask you some questions and in exchange I'm going to let go of your mouth and as long as you don't scream it will remain that way, got it? Blink if you understand." Negi blinked and felt the pressure on his mouth decrease slowly. When he did not scream the pressure faded completely.

"Now, I can tell something weird is going on, so, I'm going to start with what I know and work my way up to what you know, got it?" the voice whispered, "Yes!" Negi yelped his reply with fear and wondered where Chamo was and if he was alright. "Alright, now let's start with what I know. Is this world in anyway affiliated with United Nations Space Command or any Separatist world?" Negi had no idea what those where but shook his head anyway. "Ok, is this world a human world occupied by the Covenant?" Negi replied, thinking that the Covenant might be a group of magic user's, "Not that I know of, but I'm not sure what you mean." Negi heard the voice 'hmmm' at that last remark. "Alright, if you haven't heard of the Covenant then, I don't suppose you know the date?*"

Negi replied, "January, 17, 2005."

The strangers grunted quietly at that and Negi wondered what the problem was. "Ok, I don't suppose you saw a shooting star did you?" Negi wondered what that meant, but replied, "No, I, uhmm, summ-...." Negi cut himself off before he got in trouble for revealing the existence of magic to someone not involved. "You're hiding something." The strangers tone made the statement a question. "Yes..." Negi knew that the stranger knew something was up, so, he thought he might as well admit that he was hiding something.

The stranger relented, "Ok, I'll come back to what you're hiding later. For now..." The voice took one quick, short breath and said, "Let's start with what you know then, ok?" The arm that had clamped around his midsection pining his arms to his sides since the entire conversation began released him but clamped onto his shirt collar. The stranger gently turned Negi around and Negi finally saw his attackers face.

The man standing on his haunches in front of him was pale, with piercing green eyes and stunning good looks. He also had a small scar under his right eye and another peeking up from underneath his collar on the right side of his neck. His silver hair was pulled back by his braid and the only loose hair on his head was his bangs, which hung long, almost touching his chin. The stare, made all the more intense because of his striking green eyes, he set on Negi was one of a person that had seen the cruelties of life and had refused to be cursed by them.

"Well then, I guess I'll start with the basics. On what world am I, where on that planet am I, and who are you?" Negi shrugged, causing the hand on his shirt collar to twitch, and said, "You're on Earth, on one of the mainland of Japan, and my name is Negi Springfield." Sensing that this man would not harm him if he asked, he went on, "And who are you are you, sir, if you don't mind me asking?" The man replied, "Call me Sierra for now, and I might tell you more if the situation is as bad as I think it is. But first, could you let me ask you something?" Negi nodded, wondering what he was going to ask. "Do you know who screwed with my hair? Because last time I checked I had an inch of hair, not four damn feet, and it damn sure wasn't braided!" Negi shook his head and pondered what his spell had done to the man.

The stranger released his hold of Negi's shirt collar and stood looking down at him after standing shaking his head. "And another thing, I should be forty one by my count, yet here I am with the body of a teen!" Mr. Sierra, as Negi had come to think of him, shook his head with a small frown, puzzlement radiating from every pore. Negi was about to tell Mr. Sierra that teens very rarely run 6'4, let alone have a Herculean build, when he heard both Chamo and Asuna yelling for him.

"Anaki! Anaki! We're coming to help, just wait a little bit longer!"

"Negi, just hold on where coming to help!"

Mr. Sierra sighed and asked Negi, "Friends of yours?" Negi nodded and said, "Yes, one is a student of mine and the other is... well... a ermine..." Negi finished lamely. Mr. Sierra gave him a very penetrating stare and said, "A ermine?" Sierra's withering tone caused Negi to blush faintly and wave his arms in his defense, "He is... a very special ermine." Mr. Sierra sighed and replied, "Look, let's just go meet up with your friends, they are probably worried."

Mr. Sierra gave Negi's shoulder a pat and started walking toward the rapidly closing voices. As Negi hurried to catch up with Mr. Sierra, Negi was struck by how graceful Sierra moved, even while walking Mr. Sierra seemed to stalk the forest trail. Negi felt something off about the stranger, the way he moved, the way he had acted, and how calm he was. Negi knew for a fact that almost anyone in the same situation as Mr. Sierra would have been stark raving _mad_ by now. Negi was wondering just who he had summoned when Asuna came barreling down the bend of the trail.

Asuna was running full tilt down the trail when she spotted Negi, safe and sound, her concentration wavered briefly. That brief moment lead to her not watching where her feet where going, which caused her to not see the pothole in the middle of the trail. Negi watched as Asuna started to fall and instinctively reached for the staff that his father left him when he realized he had left it in the clearing where he a cast the summoning spell. As this revelation flashed through his mind, Negi took a step forward to see if he could catch her, when Mr. Sierra_ moved_. One second Sierra was a few feet in front of him, the next he was holding Asuna in his arms in a honeymoon carry effortlessly.

That was how Asuna met Sierra. The moment Asuna tripped she knew the fall was going to be nasty, like broken leg nasty. She felt herself getting turned around in midair so she was no longer facing the ground. The next thing she felt was a pair of strong arms grasp her shoulders and sweep her feet off the ground. Green luminescent eyes looked into one green eye and one blue eye and asked (in perfect Japanese), "Are you alright?"

Asuna felt herself turning as red as her hair, although she didn't know why. "Yes." she said quietly and the middle school child was gently placed back on her feet. Negi gaped in disbelief at how fast Mr. Sierra could move. Mr. Sierra had been a good few feet in front of him and Asuna had been at least seventeen feet away from ether of them when she had started her fall. Sierra had seemed to have _blurred_ across the intervening feet to Asuna. _Definitely not normal_, Negi quickly thought.

Chamo came running down the trail then. When he spotted the stranger he had seen attack Negi with his hands lying on Asuna's shoulders he screamed, "Asuna-Aniki that's the one that attacked Negi-Aniki!" Mr. Sierra's head whipped around, viper quick, to see who just said that and the only thing he spotted was a white ermine in the middle of the trail. Asuna took a second to pull herself together and quickly struck out with a fist.

Or tried to compose herself at least. Her fist had barely started to move when, without looking, the strangers hand was covering it, restraining it effortlessly. Asuna was not a weak girl and was considered the strongest physically in her class; however this man's arm had barely twitched. Asuna, however, was not deterred easily. She started to lash out with her foot when the stranger simply spun her in place and, without losing contact on her fist, placed her arm on the high point of the small of her back. Sierra then used a classic police move to trip her sending her face first into the dirt. However Sierra did not use the complete move, (where after tripping his opponent the police officer maintains the arm bar using his knee to pin the arm to the prep's back) he merely let go, allowing Asuna fall untidily into the dirt.

Asuna inhaled and exhaled a few times and had started to get onto her knees when she heard two familiar voices call her name down the trail, Kade and Ku Fei.

Kade and Ku Fei, who had seen Asuna run off during PE period and where naturally concerned, found Asuna on the ground with a strange man looming over her. They naturally made some assumptions and went on the offensive. Asuna heard the stranger sigh and saw that he had assumed a fighting stance of some sort.

Ku Fei led the attack with a jump kick. The stranger responded by simply swatting his hand at her leg, the force of the blow caused a small spike of pain through Ku Fei's leg and deflected the blow. Causing her to land in an untidy roll behind and to the left of the stranger. Kade fallowed up by throwing ninja throwing knives (blunted training knives) at him while dropping out of a tree to the right of the stranger. The man simply responded by ducking at the waist allowing the kunai to fly harmlessly over him.

Ku Fei came up out of the roll and lunched herself at the man with her fist raised intending to land a crippling punch. Kade landed and unsheathed her ninja blade (she always kept one on her at all times) and sprinted at the man with the intent to hamstring him. As they both closed the stranger shifted slightly.

Kade was the first one to reach striking range. She lashed out, aiming low, with the blade pointed downward in her fist. The stranger responded with a simple judo throw (grab attacking arm with one arm, pivot into the targets center of gravity with your back, sweep one foot with the back of your heel, bend at the waist while bending forward, and release the targets arm while gravity takes its course). The stranger also disarmed Kade somehow during the throw and she wondered, as she sailed through the air, how someone could move so fast.

As Kade was flying straight at Ku Fei, Asuna (lying on the ground as she was) looked up in wonder at the stranger and both of her friends. She had known Ku Fei was a martial artist, and that Kade had always been good at sports, but, the way her friends where fighting was on an entirely different level then anything she had seen before. The stranger seemed to be barely trying and that terrified Asuna greatly.

Ku Fei slid under Kade as she flies over head. Kade's body disappeared in a puff of smoke and in its place flew a small log. Ku Fei tried to sweep the strangers legs out from under him as she slid but he did a little twisting hop that allowed him to evade the attack. The reason for the twist in his little hop was so he could deal with Kade as she dropped out of a tree behind him and threw the ball end of a kussri-gama (that ball-chain-sickle thing ninja's use) right at his head.

The stranger used the Kade's ninja blade like a bat and swatted the ball away from his head. He then used his free hand to latch onto the chain and yanked the weapon out of the girl's hand. As he landed, Ku Fei launched a vicious strike at the strangers' neck, only to have herself hit in the head by the kussri-gama scythe's handle. The resulting hit launched the business end of the weapon into the air. Kade launched herself at the stranger hoping to exploit the commotion with the kussri-gama.

The stranger waited as Kade got closer then, simply, clubbed her in the side of the head with the kussri-gama ball end. The stranger caught the scythe end of the female ninja's weapon before it could burry it's blade into the unconscious Ku Fei. Asuna's and Negi's eyes had gone wide with awe and fear as Mr. Sierra dropped both weapons by his feet and went to check each girl's pulse.

The entire fight had only lasted four seconds. The man had barely moved and both of his attackers had ended up unconscious on the forest floor. Mr. Sierra stood up and nodded, glad that both girls where ok when he heard a soft female voice exclaim, "You'll pay for what you did to them, evildoer!"

Negi, Chamo, and Asuna looked up the trail to see Setsuna brandishing her overly large katana. Negi and Asuna were about to warn Setsuna not to come any closer when they heard the silver haired stranger after shaking his head, say softly, "You know, I'm getting tired of random people assaulting me. Play time is _over_!"

The stranger launched himself at Setsuna who was a good 15 feet away, blurring across the distance in the blink of an eye, kicking up a large amount of leaves in the process. Setsuna whipped her large katana in an overhead downward strike, only to find that the stranger had sidestepped at the last instant. The stranger smashed middle of his foot down on the middle of the katana snapping it in half. The man then delivered a vicious punch to Setsuna's solar plexus, causing her to bend at the waist and drop to her knees while cradling her mid section, her sword forgotten at her feet.

"I've had enough of people attacking me at random." The stranger turned to Negi and stated, "I need answers before ANYONE ELSE attacks me and since you're the guy hiding something, so _you_ are the logical person to start with." Negi winced at the man's tone and wondered if he should revile his secret to Mr. Sierra. Asuna got to her feet and walked over to Negi with the intent to shield him from harm if the stranger decided to attack.

Mr. Sierra watched Asuna walk over to Negi and knew what see had in mind. He sighed and said gently, "Look, Miss, I'm not going to hurt the kid. I just want answers. The last thing I remember I had gone into cryo sleep on a crippled starship, hurtling god knows where, only to find myself in a clearing in some random forest on Earth! Please little boy if you know something, please tell me."

Negi heard the pleading note in Mr. Sierra's voice and stepped around Asuna. "Alright Mr. Sierra I'll tell you what's going on, but not here, there are too many ways someone can overhear us in the forest." Asuna turned to Negi, "Negi, are you sure you can trust him? He did just beat up a couple of your students, incase you didn't notice." Negi nodded and looked over his shoulder at Asuna, "I think we can trust him Asuna, he could have finished off Ku Fei, Kade and you but he didn't. I think he was only defending himself and to be honest, if he had the intent to kill us, I think he would have done so already."

Setsuna staggered to her feet, clutching her midsection. "Negi-sensei are you sure it's wise to trust him?" She swayed on her feet as she spoke causing the stranger to offer his hand in support, to which she politely declined. Negi shook his head and said, "I don't know. I'm the one responsible for this mess, so it's my duty to fix this. But first, let's get Kade and Ku Fei to the infirmary then visit to the principle; he'll know how to fix this."

Negi walked over to the unconscious form of Ku Fei and tried to get a good hand hold so he could carry her. Mr. Sierra walked over and picked up Ku Fei, then Kade and placed both of them on his shoulders (a.k.a. a fireman's carry). Sierra looked around their little group and said, "Let's go."

Everyone nodded and set off toward the school.

**One Hour Later**

Mr. Sierra stood, spine ramrod straight, eyes staring at a spot four centimeters above the old man's head and saluted the Principle of Mahora Academy with parade ground perfection. The older man was a little surprised by the military formality, but nodded and told the stranger to sit down. "Now, Mr. Sierra was it? I have talked with Negi and Setsuna about what happened and we have come to an agreement."

Mr. Sierra nodded. "We have decided to tell you the truth. The whole truth, and, in exchange I'd would like you to tell me about yourself." Mr. Sierra considered the older man's words for a good couple of seconds and bobbed his head in agreement. The Principle nodded then stated, "Good, first, I'll tell you why you are here." The Principle paused, "You where summoned here with a powerful magical spell, known as "Void Calling"." Sierra cocked his head to the side. "Magic?"

"Yes, magic, mana, incantations, spells, all that." The old man waved his hands. "It's with us, always. In this room right now, you and I sit in a sea of it. It connects all things together in an unbreakable web. There are many kinds of magic users and Negi and I happen to be users of the art. Magic is it what brought you here. The spell used to summon you here only summons's great beings to defend the caster. Now, why don't you tell me why the spell chose you, who seem to be but a man, here?"

The stranger lowered his head for a second and thought it over. When he raised his head, determination was written all over his face.

"I'm not sure I believe, the whole bit about magic being why I'm here, but it would make a kind of sense. Anyway, since you seem to have been truthful to me, I guess I will return the favor. I am Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 of the Spartan II super-solder program and for the last thirty years now I have been fighting a collection of alien races known as the Covenant, five-hundred years from now that is. Our first contact with them happened with them happened when the United Nations Space Command sent a battle group to investigate a colony, Harvest that had been out of contact with High Command for a period of time. They sent one message, "Your destruction is the will of the God's, and we are their instrument." They opened fire after that. There was only one survivor. That started a war that resulted in five hundred billion human casualties and two hundred and twenty worlds turned to glass. Now I've been candid with you, I would appreciate it if you return the favor. Why am I here?"

The Principle had gone white as a sheet at the soldier's story. The older man stammered, "Five-hundred billion? How could they have done such a thing?" Anger & sadness stormed in the old man's eyes.

"What you just felt sir is what the entirety of the UNSC armed forces had been feeling for thirty years. Now, please answer my question. Why am I here and why am I like this?" John said wave'ing at his body, slight agitation displayed in his body language.

The Principle sucked in one huge calming breath then said, "One more question, if you please. You said you where part of a super soldier program; I'd like you to expand upon that."

John sighed. "Alright, I'll tell you about the SPARTAN II program, only because the UNSC does not to exist here so their's no one who can court martial me and holding out at this point would be stupid." John cuped his chin with his hand and collected his thoughts.

John looked up and said, "At the age of six I was conscripted for the SPARTAN II program. I was taken from my home in the middle of the night and sedated then thrown into cryo sleep. I awoke in an amphitheater on another world, and told I was going to be a soldier. After the various speakers where finished, we where escorted to our barracks. We where woken up at 4am by trainers with stun sticks and that's when our training began..."

John told the Principle about his life, his successes, his failures, his augmentations, and his teammates for the next three hours. The Principle found the soldiers story horrific and despite himself, fascinating. The Principle saw the sadness in the Spartan's eyes even if the rest of his face showed no emotion. John told him about the Halo rings and the Ark, about 343 Guilty Spark, about Cortona, about Mendez, about Jacob and Miranda Keys, Kelly, Fred, Sam, Linda, Li, Grace, the list went on. John told the kindly old man about the things he had seen, done, and heard.

It was, for John, as if some long closed gate had opened and he told the old man _everything_. He described the grace of the Halo's, the sound of a thousand Flood infection forms scurrying about, and the feeling of dropping through the upper stratosphere without the aid of a ship.

The Principle was awed by the young man sitting in front of him. If his story was to be believed the man before him was almost as old as the Principle, had lived and fought in the worst war in human history, succeeded when the situation seemed impossible, and, above all, lived through it all. At the end of his story, the Spartan did something no one who knew him would think was possible, he shed a single tear, grieving for all that humanity had lost.

The Principle got up from his chair and walked around the desk and to John's mild surprise, bowed deeply. The old man said, after righting himself and voice thick with emotion, "Thank you for the honor of hearing your story. I shall carry it to the end of my days." John stood and shook his head, "No sir. Thank you for listening. It felt good to get that off my chest."

Both men resumed sitting after regaining their composure.

The Principle voice took on a business-like tone. "Well, now I understand why the spell chose you. But, to answer your question about why you are here, I'll have to get a little technical. The spell used to summon you here, as you know, is called Void Calling." John nodded. "What you don't know is that that spell has been locked away and hidden for the last two hundred years. The reason for this is that once someone summons's something with Void Calling it's impossible for that person or thing to return. Another reason the spell is forbidden is because of the changes that happen to the person or object. The caster is not really taking whatever he summons's from the place or time that object resides. He is merely taking the essence of that object or person and using it to form a copy body or shell here so that the essence has a place to live in and Void Calling only works with things or object's that are about to die or be destroyed.

The process is influenced by the casters mind which is why you have the body of a teen. I also wouldn't be surprised if some of your... enhancements haven't received a slight boost to reflect to teen mindset (you know, super heroes and such). Now, you can't go back to your time and you can't leave here because of the magical link with Negi. So I have a job I'd like to offer you, if you're interested."

"Hold on just a second." John said, looking over his shoulder, "You two, by the door! Front and center!"

The two large doors of the Principle's office flew open and Negi flew face first into the carpet. Setsuna stumbled into the office and triped over Negi and landed on top of him. The Principle cleared his throat. Both Negi and Setsuna scrambled to their feet, and looked down shame faced. The Principle cleared his throat, "I take it you heard John's story?" Both nodded. "And what did you two think?"

Negi looked up and stammered, "D-did you really stop a machine that was capable of destroying all life in the galaxy?"

Setsuna asked at the same time, "Did you really drop through the upper atmosphere with out a ship?"

John nodded, "Yes on both counts. Although, the suit of powered armor was what let me survive the fall." He turned back to the Principle, "Now, what's this about a job?" The Principle coughed into a fist. "Yes, well it's about young Negi here. You see, he's a promising young mage with a lot of potential. _However_, he also has a tendency to get into trouble and I'm afraid he's going to get into trouble one day that he can't handle. _So_, he need's a body guard, interested?"

A voice popped into John's mind, _I know he has a partner somewhere on campus and your REAL job will be to guard both Negi, his partner, and his class. I fear for the boy. Forces are moving around him that I can't control and I won't be able to protect him from some of the worst of it._

John cocked his head at the Principle and replied in his mind, _I will try. I don't really have a choice in the matter but, __**I will try**_.

"I'll do it."

"W-what? Principle, what do I need a bodyguard for?!"

"Good. Now, I'm going to enroll you in Negi's class as John Springfield a distant relative of some sort here to observe his class." The old man started to stroke his beard, smirking.

"Wait, What? That wasn't in the job description."

"Be sure to visit the student store for your uniform and get some sleep, class start's tomorrow. I have a feeling your going to need it..."

**In The Infirmary**

Asuna, who was watching over the still unconscious forms of Kade and Ku Fei, felt herself blush and her heart skip a beat. She was wondering why when Ku Fei's eyes fluttered open. She shot up to a sitting position and stated, "Where is he?"

"Where's who?"

"Where's the man with the silver hair?"

"In the Principle's office."

"Ah, good, I thought he was a dream."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm going to marry him."

With that, Ku Fei fell back into the bed instantly unconscious. Asuna wondered if she was serious.

**Later That Night**

Negi knocked on the door of the room he shared with Asuna and Konoka and sighed wondering what he was going to do when he heard, "Come in." The voice sounded familiar but Negi shrugged it off and walked in. Negi fell flat on his face. Sitting with Asuna and Konoka around a low slung table in the middle of the room, was John!

John turned to Asuna and asked, "Is he always like this?"

"Yeah, the little brat can't seem to stay on his feet for more then a few minutes!"

"Be nice Asuna. No, he's not always this."

"You're too nice Konoka."

"And beautiful too!"

Both girls laughed at the little by-play and Konoka said, "You really should get up off the floor Negi, you'll catch a cold."

Negi stammered, "W-what are you doing here John?"

"I'll be living here from now on."

"You and he will be sleeping on the floor."

"_W-what!_?"

**The Next Morning**

Negi stood before a massive black board facing his class. "Alright class before we begin today, I'd like to introduce someone. John, you can come in now." The Spartan, clad in his new school uniform, walked in. "This is John Springfield, he's my cousin from America. He's here as part of a special exchange program. Please treat him well."

"My name is John and I'll be working with you all for the time being, please treat me well." The Spartan bowed. Ku Fei and Kade jumped to their feet and shouted at the same time, "That's the guy from yesterday!"

The entire class looked at the stranger, then at Negi, then burst out, "_Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!_"

_**End Chapter 1**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer:**_ See chapter one for disclaimer.

_**Chapter 2: School Day's!**_

The entire class burst into questions.

"Hey, are you really Negi's cousin? You look nothing alike!"

"What part of America did you live in?"

"Where did you learn Japanese? You don't have a accent like Negi."

"Why is your hair silver? It's beautiful..."

"I bet you speak good English!" "Of course he speaks English, he's American dummy!"

"Negi-sensei, why is he here and not in the boy's school?"

Negi waved his arm's to try and quiet down the class when John cleared his throat and barked, "_**CLASS, TEN-HUT!!!**_" The question's died instantly, and everyone looked at the Spartan. "That's better, now, Sensei?" Negi had jumped about a foot off the floor at the authoritarian bellow. He regained his composure and coughed into a fist, "Well, now we know that John has a good set of lungs." Negi smiled at his own joke and the rest of the class laughed.

"Now the reason he is here and not in the boy's school is because Mahora Academy is thinking of building a campus in America. He's here to observe how the Female part of the Academy works and a couple of years from now another exchange student will observe the Male portion of the Academy. He also happens to be related to me so the Principle signed him up for my class."

Negi looked around, "Now if you have questions, please ask them one at a time, ok?"

Kasumi Asakura, news paper club member, raised her hand, "What part of America did you live in?"

"Colorado, near Cheyenne Mountain."

Misa Kakizaki, cheerleading club member, raised her hand, "How old are you?"

"I'm 15."

Sakurado Shiina, lacrosse club member, raised her hand quickly, "Do you have a girlfriend back in America?"

"No."

Several people whistled. Negi rapped his roll book on his lectern a few time's. "Alright, that's enough questions for now. If you have more questions for him until wait after class or during lunch, now, let's get you seated John. The seat by Asakura-san seam's to be free so you can sit there for the time being "

Kasumi smiled real big as Misa and Shiina booed. John nodded and walked through the rows of desk's and sat gracefully (although he had the feeling that the spot was occupied). Kasumi was struck by how gracefully he moved, like each movement was controlled yet fluid at the same time. Kasumi kind of liked how tall he was.

John arranged his school book's and paper's neatly on his desk. Kasumi leaned over slightly and said, "Hi, my names Asakura." John replied, "Hello." The Spartan flashed a polite smile. To Kasumi the smile was dazzling, causing Kasumi's chest to tighten a bit. "So, how long have you been in the country?"

"Since two in the afternoon, yesterday."

"Oh..."

Kasumi looked away, cheeks a bit red, and thought to herself, _come on Asakura, don't let a handsome face distract you from your job. Try to get some more information out of him! Your journalistic instincts demand it! _She turned back to John. "So what our your hobbies?"

"I'm sorry, could you hold off your questions until lunch? I'm going to be busy for the next week or so. When I have some free time I'll answer your questions, if that's alright?"

_Damn, he's going to be a tough nut to crack, _Kasumi thought sullenly nibbling on her thumbs knuckle.

Negi started class and all conversation ceased.

John was faintly impressed by the control Negi had over his students. John remembered briefly about a mission Blue Team had preformed. During the 12th year of the Covenant war, Lord Admiral Chang Xu (9th in command of the UNSC) and his family had been kidnapped by Insurrectionist's. They'd planed to force the UEG to give them a colony ship so they could flee with their family's from human space. The kidnaper's had taken over the Admiral's three story home, located on the still rural plane's of Nebraska. Blue Team was on Earth for mandatory R&R (Rest and Refit in the Spartan's case) when the call came through for the Spartans to suit up and prepare for a hostage rescue situation.

Blue Team dealt with the situation with it's customary flawlessness, and rescued Lord Chang and his family. But, what stuck out in his mind where the Admiral's two fourteen year-old daughter's. They had been near catatonic when the Spartan's had burst in, eliminating the threat to the Admiral's family. To prevent the two girls from going into shock John had ordered Blue Team to remove their helmets. The two girls had gone from almost catatonic to loud and obnoxious as soon as Kelly had tried to strike up a conversation.

He smirked at the memory of Kelly sub-vocalizing a request to bind the girls mouth's with the spare roll of marine rigger tape she had on her at all times.

Kasumi was busy taking notes when a ball of paper hit her in the head. She looked around to see who hit her with the bit of refuse, but no one was looking in her direction so she shrugged and unfolded the ball to see what was inside. It was a hastily written note.

_"What happened to, Asakura, the famous news hound? Right about now, you would be asking enough questions to drive a deaf man crazy. I know he's handsome, but that's not like you!_

_By Misa._

_P.S. Point him over to me if your not interested!"_

Kasumi, face aflame, crumpled up the note and puffed out a, "Hurmph" loudly.

**Lunch Time**

John used the line of credit the Principle had started for him to buy some sort of melon flavored bread and was just starting to sit down to eat it when two identical girls (the only thing different about them being their hair styles; one with double buns, one with twin pigtails) walked over to where he was sitting. Fuuka and Fumika Narutaki looked at one another, then at the Spartan. Fuuka stated, "We where wondering how you liked the school and..." Fumika continued, "If you'd like a tour of the campus?"

John once again flashed a polite smile at the twins. John did not know that he had the kind of face that, while it was handsome, became infinitely more so when he smiled. Too bad that during the forty odd years of his life he had not had the chance to smile often and when he did he had been wearing a helmet. 'Thank you for the offer. I might have to take you two up on that later."

Both Fuuka and Fumika blushed, replied, "okay" and hurried off to their seats. John wondered what their problem was. John was about to take a bite of his bread when he saw that the tall raven haired teen he had knocked unconscious yesterday was headed his way. Sighing internally, the Spartan placed his bread aside and raised a eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Sorry about yesterday-de gozaru. I thought you where attacking Asuna and Negi-bozu." She rubbed her head. "That was a good hit yesterday, and with my own weapon no less_!_ Where did you learn those moves? I mean, you barely moved the entire time, and your _speed! _I've seen master martial artists who where slower-de gozaru!"

"My uncle Mendez taught me everything I know about martial arts and CQC, or close quarters combat. He did not believe in styles or kata's so he taught me, my bothers and sisters to take what worked and didn't and to think on our feet."

Kaede opened one of her eyes at that and asked quietly, "Thats a interesting way to train. So how many moves do you know-de gozaru?"

"Oh, around three or four thousand from various sources. And, as for my speed it's all natural genetics." Both of Kaede's eye's opened at that and her mouth opened a little. "By the way, you're no slouch when it come's to weapon combat... are you alright?"

Kaede walked away muttering about something. The Spartan just shrugged and was lifting his bread to his mouth when he saw a distinct shape on one of the other members of the class. John slowly lowered his piece of bread and whistled at Mana Tatsumiya.

Kasumi had been waiting to corner John so she could ferret out some answers. She had been watching John on the other side of the class room since the beginning of lunch trying to figure out how to accomplish her goal when she saw him whistle at Mana. John quickly flashed a hand signal to the brown-skinned black haired girl when she turned to look at him. John repeated the same hand signal and Mana raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner.

John quickly flashed some more hand signals at Mana and she threw some back. The silent conversation went back and fourth for about five seconds when Mana broke the silence by shaking her head and stating, "No, their air soft, and unloaded." John nodded, gave her a thumbs up, and turned back to his food.

Kasumi wondered what they talked about.

John picked up his still unbitten bread and was about to take a bite when he felt his extremely sensitive survival instincts scream at him. Quick as a viper John leaned foreword in his seat just as two different feet flew through the space his head had just occupied, each foot going in different directions. Spartan time kicked in, and the world seemed to slow and race at the same time.

The entire classroom went from a bedlam of noise to instant silence as the entire class stared at the scene happening before them. John flowed out of the chair like a gust of wind and prepared himself to fight. He spotted the other girl, Ku Fei, he had knocked unconscious yesterday. Standing with her was another girl who had assumed a fighting stance, Chao Rinshen if he remembered correctly.

Both girls resumed the offensive. Chao threw a blindingly fast right cross and Ku Fei launched a quick snap kick aimed at his left kidney. The Spartan raised his arms and intercepted both attacks, his hand covering Chao's right fist and his other hand held Ku Fei's left ankle. Both girls launched another all out assault on the Spartan. Chao threw a straight kick at John's stomach and Ku Fei launched a right straight punch at John's face.

John responded to Chao's attack by bending his arm and striking down at the tip of Chao's ankle with his elbow while tugging her forward and pivoting at the waist toward Ku Fei. John dodged Ku Fei's jab by leaning his head to the far right while aching his back. The Spartan threw Chao toward the other girl and fired off a quick kick into Ku Fei's right ankle causing her to slip and released both girls.

Ku Fei and Chao slammed into each other and collapsed onto the floor in a untidy pile of limbs.

The class rep, Ayaka Yukihiro, surged to her feet and said at the top of her considerable lungs, "John-san, Ku Fei, Rinshen! What's going on here?" Both girls started to issue excuse's from their heap on the floor.

"Well you see, inchou.."

"We where just.."

John stood ramrod straight and barked, "Ma'am, Miss Ku Fei and Miss Rinshen had asked me to show them some techniques on how to disable two foes at once!" Ayaka was a little taken aback at John's military formality but raised a single brow in disbelief.

Ku Fei and Chao scrambled to their feet.

"Yeah, inchou, we had heard that John here was a martial artist, and we where curious how good he was."

"What she said." Ku Fei pointed her thumb at Chao.

The entire class switched between looking at the class rep and the trio.

"Hmmmm...? Well, save it for P.E."

The class rep turned away and the class went back to their individual conversations. John gazed at the two girls and crossed his arms and spoke quietly, "Now, why did you two attack me?"

Both girls had the grace to look embarrassed. Ku Fei looked down blushing, "I told Chao-chan about our fight yesterday and she was curious about how good you are -aru." John raised a hand, "Let me guess, you two decided to test how proficient I was?" Chao beamed at him, "I thought Ku Fei had been joking when she told me she had lost." The girl struck out her hand, "Chao Rinshen, pleased to meet'cah!" The Spartan took the offered hand.

"John. Now if you two don't mind, I'd like to _start_ eating my lunch." Ku Fei hurried away and Chao fallowed at a slower pace.

Being in the spot light was starting to bother the Chief. Back in his time Spartans where viewed with a mix of awe and fear and there where always whispers of the Spartans not being entirely human. The Spartans never really felt at ease with anyone but another Spartan and the fact that he was the last active Spartan also weighed heavily on his mind. Here no one had ever heard of the UNSC or the SPARTAN II program and the Spartans feelings where mixed about his current situation. On one hand, it was nice to be treated like a human being and not another tool in the UNSC's war effort. In the other hand no one _ever_ pestered a Spartan and generally treated them like a tamed grizzly bear, half a ton of mean that was willing to behave at the moment.

John sighed and sat back down in his chair as the two girls hurried off when he felt the same sensation he had been feeling all day. He was being watched. The Spartan did a slow scan of the room but found nothing. Placing a hand on the back of his neck, John turned back to his meal. The Spartan was about to reach for his still unbitten bread when he felt a presence approach.

Turning his head John saw a small purple haired girl, with a juice box (the box's title proclaiming the flavor to be strawberry mango coffee) clutched in her hand, walking up to him. Plastering a polite smile on his face the Spartan asked, "Yes?"

Yue Ayase nearly tripped as she walked up to the newcomer however a hand shot out and helped her remain on her feet. Yue righted herself, blushing furiously, and offered thanks to the Spartan as his hand withdrew. Yue took one huge breath and said quickly, "Negi-sensei asked me to give these printouts to you." She thrust out the stack of seven or so papers out at the Spartan. John took the stack and placed them on his desk.

"Thank you, Miss Ayase was it? Yes, thank you very much."

Yue turned stiffly, cheek's still a shade of red, and marched off muttering, "It should be a crime to smile like that." John wondered what was wrong with his smile. The Spartan's was about to pick up the chunk of bread when a white blur shot through the open window two rows behind him and snatched the meal right out from under the Spartans fingertips. It was the same ermine from the forest yesterday!

The little animal looked at the Spartan over its shoulder with his stolen meal in its mouth and John could have sworn it _smirked_ at him. The rodent sped off and the Spartan felt like smashing his desk to its component parts. The Spartan took a massive calming breath and reasserted his self control.

John thought to himself, _Today is going to be one of those day's_...

**Elsewhere, same time**

Twenty or so men in surplus tactical gear stood or sat around a overly large table in a smoke filled room discussing, with great animation, a soccer game two days old when the door to the large room slammed open. A extremely tall and wide man with jet black hair strode over to the table in the new found silence and tossed a folder he had been carrying onto the surface. A couple of pictures slid out of the folder and two pictures in particular caught everyone's attention.

"Boss, are you sure we'll get the money?" A short man with a olive complexion and fiery red hair asked the large man in a slithering voice.

"Da, these two are going to be our main cash crop and the rest are just chaff to be separated." The man's subterranean bass caused several to lean forward to look at the pictures.

"I've already checked out the building's schematics and located the prefect location to fort up." A moderately tall women with green hair and glasses informed the large man.

"Good, well comrades this is going to be our biggest score yet. I want everyone to remember this to be a clean op and that means no unnecessary killing and no mistakes. Any questions?"

The huge man looked around the room. After seeing that there where no questions, nodded.

"Alright, everyone suit up and prepare to move! The vans move in at three!"

**Class 3-A, later that day**

Class had ended and John was putting his school books into his bag when he caught sight of Negi staggering under a mound of paper heading toward the door. The Spartan stopped what he was doing and hurried over to relive the prepubescent teacher of his burden.

Negi grabbed his knees breathing heavily after John took the stack from him and mumbled a thanks. Negi got his wind back and asked John if he would take the stack to a student who had a cottage on campus, Evangeline. The Spartan said yes and headed for the door consulting a map Negi drawn for him in one hand while carrying a pile of papers in the other.

As soon as John left Negi gave a thumbs up to the rest of the class and preparations commenced for John's welcoming party.

**Ten minutes later**

Preparations where well underway for John's welcoming party when Negi happened to look out the window while helping hold a ladder. _That's odd, _Negi thought, _that's a lot of vans_. Negi walked to the window to get a better look. Negi wondered if they where offloading some freight. The dozen vans approaching at high speed toward the building where black and had blacked out windows. As they neared the school the min-convoy split up and each van headed for different sides of the complex and all of the available entrances.

Negi had a _very _bad feeling about this and continued to watch as the vehicles screeched to a halt in front of all the entrances. Each vehicle parked driver side on to the doors and men poured out of the cars carrying _guns_. Negi turned and shouted, "Everyone get away from the windows and stay away from the doors!"

A chorus of confused voices answered him, to which he yelled, "_IT DOESN'T MATTER! JUST DO IT!_" Negi quickly thought about his options as he heard combat boots rush down the hallways. _My staff is in my office and I don't have my training wand with me. I can't control my power all that well without either and I don't want to hurt the girls, plus I don't want to get turned into a ermine, so no magic. My class is the only one in the building and Nagase-san, Ku Fei and Rinshen-san are out getting supplies and Tatsumiya-san had things to do so their not at risk. Chacamaru and Evangeline haven't come to class and the Cheerleader club members are still at practice so they should be safe. _

_Setsuna can handle herself, _Negi thought over what Setsuna had told him about herself after the meeting with the Principle yesterday. _The only person who is a wild card in this situation is John._ The door to the class room flew open and people holding guns rushed into the room covering Negi and his class with their weapon's. They barked for them to lay on the ground and put their hands on their heads in passable Japanese. A _very_ large man came walking through the door and made his way to where the class rep was laying. A short red haired man came through the door soon after and walked up to Konoka.

The large man said in accented English, "I need someone to translate." Negi saw Setsuna inch closer to Konoka and blurted, "I can translate," to distract the large man from Setusna's action. The huge man turned toward him nodded and said, "Good, now say what I say." Negi nodded.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen I shall be your host for this evening. We are going to hold you hostage until the Academy pays for you. You two however, "he pointed at Konoka and Ayaka, "are going to have your parents pay for you. Pray they pay because in 24 hours where going to blow this place sky high whether they pay or not."

Setsuna jumped to her feet to defend Konoka, but lacking her sword or the special paper required to make shikigammi and still harboring injuries from yesterday's fight, was smashed to the floor by the large man who was _much_ faster then he appeared, unconscious. Cries of fear broke out all around the class and the big man smiled.

"This is going to be so much _fun!_"

**On the path to Evangeline's House, 15 minutes later**

John had never gotten lost in his life but as in all things there was a first time for everything. While Negi might be a mage and a teacher the ten year-old boy drew _terrible _maps. John swore, he _thought_ he had been going the right way when he came to a forest clearing with nothing in it. John swore even louder at that. The Spartan sighed and turned around and muttered about teaching Negi how to draw a tactical map.

John had gone about maybe twenty feet when he heard someone running down another branch of the path. John ran up the path to see who it was and if he could get some directions (another first) and was mildly surprised to see Chacamaru running down the other branch. What surprised him more, was the fact that she was obviously a android. Back in his time, the UN had outlawed the technology after a few instances of rouge A.I.'s taking over the body's of androids and using them to commit a few murders. The fact that the class had a android in it was not all that impossible considering it had a child _wizard_, of all things.

The Spartan quickly caught up to the android with the intent to pass on the stack of paper when he saw her face, she was _distressed_. That caused John to pause (the androids he knew of could not display emotion), then he shook himself and asked what was wrong. Chacamaru had heard that a boy had joined class 2-B and that he had silver hair, so she was not surprised to see him. What did surprise her was that he had kept up with her when she was going at a full on sprint. Chacamaru was not as fast as a car on the ground but she could keep up to one. The man running beside her did not even look all that put out keeping up with her. She shook her head and turned when he said something.

"What's wrong?"

They both halted a way's down the trail and faced one another. John asked again, "What's wrong?"

"I caught a radio transmission from Campus Security. Terrorists have captured Negi-sensei and the rest of 2-B and are holding them for ransom."

John's mind raced. Contrary to public opinion of his time, Spartans where not mindless killing machines. The candidates for the SPARTAN II program where selected from the top 1.30 percent of humanity, meaning that while he was also naturally strong and fast he also possessed a mind that could run rings around 98.70 percent of humanity.

Several scenarios raced around the Spartans mind as to _why_ 2-B would be held hostage; One was to hold all of the girls ransom and extort money from the school or the government. Another was to hold only the wealthy members of the class so they could get money from their families. The last was that they planed to hold all the girls hostage so they could make some sort of political message while stringing out the situation as long as they could so they got a lot of media attention then kill themselves and the girls in the end.

The last was the least favorable situation while the first was the most favorable because the kidnappers would have to turn over some of the girls as a show of good faith. One way or another some or all of the girls would die, unless someone stopped the situation. John felt a old weight settle on his shoulders and looked up at Chacamaru, eyes hard.

"You, me and anyone else we can find are going to save them before the situation get's worse."

**Outside of the security cordon on a nearby hill, 10 minutes later**

John surveyed the controlled chaos of setting up a camp to deal with a situation of this magnitude. The Spartan's exceptional vision allowed him to also see the Mahora Female Middle school building and some of the Terrorists preparations. Chacamaru stood next to him also scanning the commotion below. Whoever these guys where, they where good.

The Terrorists had sealed off the building entrances with their vans and John's enhanced hearing had picked up the fact that Campus Security had detected that the vehicles where all packed with explosives via the use of dogs trained to sniff out explosive chemicals. The Terrorists had also packed the vans with cameras and sensors. The building was located in a very flat area so sniper support was out, plus the fact that the Terrorists had a couple people posted on top of the building. They had also taken the captive class into the middle of the building.

The Terrorists had left a laptop two hundred yards away from the school tied up with a bright red bow. Campus Security had carefully extracted the laptop, turned it on, and found that a video conference program had been opened. The Terrorists had used the video program to relay their demands. The leader of the Terrorists had demanded (in Russian accented English) three million euros for the class and five for Konoka and six million for Ayaka in 24 hours or they would blow up the building.

John turned to Chacamaru and asked, "Do you have any advanced sensors? By that I mean thermal, ultrasonic or electromagnetic." Chacamaru was a little taken aback by the lack of fear in John's voice, usually when someone found out about her being a android they freaked out a little. John looked at her, face hard, and repeated the question. Chacamaru shook her head and said, "No I don't have anything special like that, only a very basic thermal sight for moving about at night."

John nodded, mind still going over plans to assault the building, until he heard the tiniest noise about five hundred yards to his left. Quick like a cobra the Spartan faded into the underbrush without Chacamaru noticing. When she realized she was alone, the android quickly scanned the area but found no trace of the boy and was about to go search for her companion when she heard a grunt of surprise. She rushed toward the scene and hopped no one was hurt.

Mana Tatsumya, merc since she could walk, former partner to a mage and currently student in Mahora Academy, watched as Campus Security set up a HQ to deal with the crisis from the top of the hill with mixed feelings. While she did not say much during class she found her class mates rather amusing, and with a sort of detached sense of fondness. However, she did not take jobs that did not pay and while she did like her class she would not take action unless she got a big fat check.

Mana was up on the hill to check out the situation and to plan a way to assault the building if she was called in, and was just formulating a plan when a hand fell on her shoulder causing her to jump at least a foot into the air. As she was about to land her hands automatically went to her holsters for her air soft pistols (loaded with knockout darts), however two iron hard forearms clamped around her arms pining them to her sides. She let out a grunt of surprise as she heard a rough voice growl into her ear, "Take it easy. It's me, John, you know, from class."

She did remember the boy from class and how he knew she carried her air soft pistols. He had used tac team hand signs to ask if they where real, to which she had answered with hand signs of her own. She had shrugged it off and went about her day, figuring he was some sort of military otaku. She nodded and felt the arms holding her from her weapons drop away.

_How did he sneak up on me? _The thought rattled around in her mind as she turned to look at the Spartan. _I don't think most otaku could prevent me from shooting them, let alone get that close in the first place. Whoever he is, he is someone to watch._

Chacamaru came through the underbrush and Mana had to snort at how much noise the android caused. Mana saw a smirk flash on John's face as if he had read her mind and she felt a slight flush come to her cheeks. _Come on Mana! Get your game face on! A smirk, no matter it lights up his face, should effect you this much._

John asked, "Now what are you doing up here?"

"I could ask the same."

"I'm planning to rescue the rest of the class and I could use some help."

"Sorry, I don't work for free."

John looked away and thought. The Spartans had not been familiar with the merc mind-set at the beginning of the war, however by the end of the war they had worked with a few PMC's (some had been better then some marine units). The smirk came back in full force a second later. "You know, I could get Konoka to float you some money for your assistance..."

Mana looked down at the ground and did some quick calculations in her head.

"How much are we talking about here?"

"It would depend upon services rendered."

The young woman thought it for a couple of seconds then nodded.

"I'm in, but, only for the money you understand?"

John turned to Chacamaru. "What are your capabilities? I mean, what can you do?" Mana, curious, also turned to hear what the android could do. "Well, I can fly, I can keep up with a midrange sports car, and I can lift about two thousand pounds above my head and keep it their for a few hours." The Spartan nodded and turned to Mana. "What are your qualifications? I can tell you have done some serious soldering in your time, so don't even bother to hide it." Mana raised a eyebrow at that, but nodded. "I can hit a target moving at 30 mph from one hundred yards away with a pistol and I can do the same with a rifle at two miles. I am also trained as a back up medic and radio operator. And what are your qualifications to lead this little escapade, humm?" Mana was a little testy at having to remember her painful past.

The Spartan debated if he should keep Negi's (and his) secret then decided against it, deciding to tell the full truth. "Well, this whole mess started a day ago when Negi, who is a mage by the way, decided to use a specific spell..."

_**End Chapter 2**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Freebird!**_

**Inside of Mahora Middle (Girls) 10 minutes later**

Kasumi Asakura was afraid, very afraid. _So is the majority of the class, so don't freak out!_ The thought caused her to settle down a bit and start to observe their captors, like any good reporter. The terrorists seemed to know their stuff, to her admittedly inexpert eye. They each carried a small machine gun that she had seen on several shows on T.V. and several carried a shotgun of some kind. They all had body armor and helmets plus some kind of equipment webbing that she had seen used by US soldiers. However they all had Chinese and Russian accents and the fact that they carried themselves with a cool professional manner made them ex-Chinese and ex-Russian special forces.

Kasumi had seen the leader and had pegged him as a former Spetnaz operator (Kasumi kept up with world news). Kasumi and the other girls had been moved from the class room to the admin section in the middle of the building. They had been split into half a dozen groups and placed into five different rooms. She was currently in Takamichi-sensei's office with at least four other girls and four "guards".

She did not know what had become of the other girls and that was starting to worry her.

**Outside the security cordon**

"Alright now that we got that out of the way, we can concentrate on coming up with a plan to get _to_ the others and a way to get them _out_." Johns voice echoed in the silence. Mana looked at the Spartan like he was crazy. "What do you mean, its over? You're telling me your from the future and that you where trained at the age of six to be a soldier. I mean come on! Sure I was the partner of a mage awhile ago, but both he and several scientists I know tell me time travel is impossible."

The Spartan looked down quickly in thought. A few seconds later his head shot up and his face had a deadly serious look. "I was summoned here by Negi on accident and from what I understand I really didn't travel through time. I merely had a copy of my soul made and that was placed into a shell created by Negi's magic. So, to a extent, I am merely a magical clone of a man born nearly five hundred years in the future."

Mana could plainly see the hurt in John's eyes and decided to relent a bit. "Alright, I'll drop the subject for now, but you and I will have a talk later."

"Okay, _now _that is out of the way, lets think of a way to rescue the class."

Chacamaru was a bit stunned by what the Spartan had told them. She shook her head and decided to ask, "I'm inclined to believe you, but I have to ask, are you really that strong? You said you have the ability to lift three times your own body weight, can you show us?" The Spartan looked back and forth between the suddenly intent face of both women/android and saw determination in their eyes. The Spartan sighed and looked at Chacamaru with a calculating eye, "I guess you weigh about 600 pounds, do you not?" Chacamaru blushed a bit and looked away causing both John and Mana to raise a eyebrow.

Chacamaru squeaked a affirmative and John nodded then swept the android up in his arms causing her to blush even further. After a awkward second or two the Spartan lifted the 600 pound android above his head and held her there for about five minutes without so much as a arm twitch then he gently placed the android on her feet. To the Spartan, the android had felt way to light and thinking back, the fight today and the fights yesterday he had moved faster then he should have been capable of without his armor.

The Spartan thought about what the Principle had said' "I also wouldn't be surprised if some of your... enhancements haven't received a slight boost to reflect to teen mindset (you know, super heroes and such)." The Spartan mentally shrugged and filled that little factoid away in the back of his mind.

"I can lift nearly one thousand pounds above my head and hold it there for about eight hours before even getting tired. I can run at nearly 50 KPH for about four hours. I also have nearly telescopic sight and night vision that a cat would envy. Now if you two are done, let's get to rescuing the class."

John turned his back on the two and continued to study the situation below. After looking at the way the terrorists had manipulated the situation, he came to a conclusion. "These guys are pro's." Mana, still a little shaken by what she had seen, turned to John and raised a eyebrow, "I agree, but why do you say that?"

"Well, the way they sealed off the building with their van's tells me that they had intimate knowledge of the floor plan. Those van's are also loaded with explosives, and that tells me that they are _very_ familiar with them. The men on the roof are staying away from the edges which tells me they are familiar with snipers and since the building is in a flat area they know if it all comes down to a fire fight that height will give them a advantage against said snipers. Also they are there to impede a helicopter insertion so any tac team that goes in will have the advantage of surprise taken away from them. The terrorists inside aren't getting shot at and that tells me that they have moved to the middle of the building where they cant get picked off and that means the admin area. If they are as smart as they seem, they also have probably split the class into a couple of different groups. I'd guess in groups of five."

"The van's, if I where to hazard a guess, probably have a remote driving system and a remote detonation system that only the terrorists can access inside each van. The insides of the van's are probably also booby trapped. Now, what confuses me a little is their extraction plan. If I where to make another guess, I'd say they have a heavy lift helicopter somewhere on campus that they plan to use to escape. The remote driving systems in the vans, if I where to make another guess, are there to help get rid of the girls and provide a distraction as they make their exit."

Mana's respect for the silver haired teen rose considerably at the precise, and professional way he took apart the tactical situation and Mana started to believe a little of what John had told her. He looked down for a couple of seconds thinking hard. When his head rose both Mana and Chacamaru saw a bit of fire enter his green luminous gaze.

"Here's what we'll do..."

**Same place, 10 minutes later**

John, Chacamaru and Mana all agreed on their assigned parts started to get ready. John turned to Mana and asked, "Can I use one of your pistols?" Mana thought about the request for a few seconds then nodded and handed one of her air soft pistols to the Spartan butt first with her fingers well away from the safety and the trigger.

The Spartan took the weapon in a firm grip making sure to keep the barrel pointed up in the air. "How many rounds?"

"Fourteen and you won't have to change the CO2 canister until your out of rounds."

"Velocity? Duration?"

"450 feet per second. 14 hours."

The Spartan nodded and carefully tucked the weapon away in one of his school jacket pockets. John and Mana stepped up to Chacamaru and each grabbed a arm and stood on the androids feet. Chacamaru activated her leg, back and arm jets with enough force to hover a few feet off the ground. Chacamaru slowly gained altitude and emerged from the cluster of trees that dotted the hilltop and continued upward until she was about two hundred feet off the ground. The android started to move forward once she reached the designated height from the plan and quickly accelerated toward the school holding both John and Mana in her arms.

The android picked up speed and in a few seconds they where speeding toward the side of Mahora Middle. At the last second Chacamaru pulled up and they where hovering over the building. The Spartan jumped down pulling out the air soft gun and flicking off the safety while still in the air and the android took off once more with Mana held in her arms.

There where four terrorists/kidnappers on the roof when John started his decent toward the roof. By the time he landed after falling from a height of about three stories (causing a small crater to form) four terrorists with darts in necks and faces fell on the roof unconscious. The Spartan took a few seconds to scooped up one of the terrorists (part of his training was military history and historical weaponry) H&K MP-5's and a few clips of ammunition and sprinted toward the roof access stairway with the extra weapon slung over his shoulder.

_Four down_.

Chacamaru made another high speed run at the building from the opposite side with Mana held tightly in her arms and both smashed through a window on the second floor and both merc and android hit the floor running. There where two sentry's in the hallway who where taken care of by Mana with precision shots to the neck with her air soft pistols. Another terrorist was just closing the door of his assigned room when Chacamaru activated her jets and shot down the corridor and slammed her palm in to his mid section, knocking him unconscious. Both headed for their assigned rooms to clear and secure.

_Seven down._

John bypassed the three flights of stairs that where between him and the second floor by jumping down the first flight then garbing the hand rail and hoping over it while using his forward momentum to propel him to the next flight below, then he simply jumped the last flight and sprinted toward the door to the second floor.

As soon as the Spartan was in range he lashed out with a foot, causing the door to crumple, rip off its hinges, and fly about a dozen feet. About three terrorists where in the hall running toward the rooms that Chacamaru and Mana had been assigned to clear. The door was still in the air when three puffs sounded out in the hallway. A second later the sound of three unconscious bodies hitting the floor was fallowed by a large crash. John noticed there where three other bodies in the hallway with darts in their unprotected areas. The entire string of actions had taken about three seconds.

The Spartan sprinted toward one of the rooms he was assigned to clear.

_Ten down._

Mana kicked the door of the room she was meant to clear and spotted a terrorist sitting on a desk across the room and one in the corner. Acting quickly the ex-merc raised her weapon and shot the man on the desk just as he was coming to his feet then turned and fired off a quick shot that lodged itself into the vest of the terrorist standing in the corner. The man was just unlimbering his MP-5 when Mana corrected her aim and shot him in the neck. Mana stepped into the room spotted two more terrorists just coming to their feet. Shooting one in the face right below the eye in a two handed grip, the ex-merc turned and snap shot the remaining guard in the neck one handed.

"Clear."

_Fourteen down._

Chacamaru charged into the room she was to clear with her jets going full blast. She smashed through the door as if it wasn't even there. She flew toward the man that she had spotted from the doorway and launched a shattering blow into his rib cage, breaking some and knocking him instantly unconscious.

Three more men where coming to their feet when Chacamaru picked up a nearby desk and threw it at one. The improvised missile slammed into the man with the speed of a speeding truck and broke several of his bones and the pain caused him to pass out. The android repeated the same trick as she was flying toward the last two men and the desk smashed into one of the two remaining men and broke his knees, causing him to fall to the floor screaming in pain, gun forgotten next to him.

The last terrorist was just starting to turn to run when the android planted a fist into his lower back also knocking him unconscious. Chacamaru deactivated her jets and the android smashed her heel on the gun, crushing it.

"Clear."

_Eighteen down._

**Takamichi-sensei's office**

Kasumi Asakura had been laying on the floor with her hands bound by zip ties for about 30 minutes at this point and was starting to get a little sleepy despite her predicament. She was just about to nod off when she heard a sudden influx of noise outside the office. She was looking at the door when it blasted off its hinges and slammed into one of the terrorist knocking him unconscious. A blur entered the room while the door was just falling off the terrorist and a single puff was heard and the three other terrorists hit the ground. The blur stopped for a second and Kasumi saw who it was...

_Twenty two down._

John stood for a half second and looked around to see if any of the girls where injured, and seeing none where, lowered his shoulder and charged the wall to the next occupied office like a bull. The Spartan collided with the wall like a bull-_dozer_ and tore through the drywall and wood like it was tissue paper...

**Negi-sensei's office**

Ako Izumi had been scared out of her mind as men with guns rushed into the classroom and told them that they where going to be hostages. She had calmed down a bit when they separated the class and took them to different teachers offices. She was still scared but had herself under control for now. For the last half hour Ako had laid on the floor and worried about her classmates when she too heard the noise out in the hallway when something burst through the wall in a shower of saw dust and debris.

The four men in the room where just coming to their feet when a faint puffing noise was heard once. The four suddenly sported what looked like darts in their necks and started to fall. The thing became a person as the sawdust cleared and Ako, looking hard, saw who it was...

John made sure that the girls where not injured then repeated his bull-in-a-china-shop impression.

_Twenty six down._

**Shizuna-sensei's office**

Nodoka Miyazaki was a shy girl by nature, especially around men, so when armed male strangers entered the class, she did what any extremely shy girl would do, she fainted. Upon wakening she started to freak out a little bit until Asuna took charge of the situation by telling them to calm down and offering some encouragement.

"It's alright Hoya-chan, everyone, we'll get out alive of this one way or another. Right now some SWAT teams or something are going to charge in and save us. Just you wait!"

The last 30 minutes, Asuna, Setsuna, Konoka, Nodoka, and Ayaka had huddled on the floor in fear but slightly more in control of their emotions. The terrorists leader had left his second in command in charge when he had left to make sure everything was in tiptop shape five minutes ago. The little greasy man that was watching over them now had been eyeing Nodoka intently ever since the leader had stepped out. Nodoka was no fool, so she had moved as far away from him as possible.

Nodoka had been laying near the door, so she was the first to hear the chaos happening in the hallway. The little man rushed over and grabbed Nodoka before whatever was happening happened here and held a knife to her throat. What the little man had been expecting was a breaching charge on the door or the door to be kicked open and a flash bang to fallow it up, what he got was someone smashing through the hall side wall and another smashing through the wall that lead to the office next door behind him. Turning toward the intruder who ripped through the hall side wall the little man reached for his side arm while keeping the knife on the girl so he was unprepared for the office door flying open and someone pointing a gun at his head.

The little man heard a single hissing noise behind him and heard two thumps hit the floor and knew that the two terrorists behind him where either dead or unconscious. He saw the girl who had smashed through the hallway wall throw a piece of the wood that had come loose from the wall at the third terrorist. The chunk of wood pegged him right between the eyes, knocking him instantly unconscious.

The little man slowly turned his head so that he could look behind him. Behind him stood a very tall man with silver hair pointing a gun at the back of his head without so much as a muscle tremor and a grim look on his face. The little man, head still turned so he could watch the stranger behind him, said slowly said in English, "One move and the bitch dies!"

The Spartan raised his hand in a blur of motion and shot him right between the eyes with his dart gun. John blurred forward, dropping his gun, then grabbed the little man by his knife hand and wrenched it away from Nodoka's neck. Using his other hand the Spartan leaned over and between Nodoka and the diminutive kidnapper and snatched the little man's right foot with his free hand and lifted. The end result was the little man hanging upside down in the air about two feet above the floor with a foot in the unyielding grasp of the Spartan.

John dropped the unconscious kidnapper on his head, dusted his hands off and offered Nodoka a hand. The Spartan spoke in a soft voice, "Are you alright?"

The short purple bangs hid Nodokas eyes as she looked at the floor and replied, "Y-yes, I-I'm alright..." She suddenly started to cry and John kneeled down then ripped the twist ties binding her hands and cradled her in his arms. John, while not prone to emotional displays, had lived through one of humanity's worst wars for nearly three decades. He knew how some people dealt with fear and the young women before him was coming to grips with what just happened to her by just letting it all out. A minute or two passed before the sobs started to die down then ceased entirely.

The Spartan let go and stood up then held out his hand again with a small smile. The purple haired girl slowly and shyly took his hand and stood up, blushing all the while. John sensitive hearing picked up the sound of a gun cocking from out in the hallway and sprinted toward Mana. He simply grabbed the front of her shirt and chucked her into the office behind him. A gunshot thundered in the hallway a piece of the door frame exploded. Unlimbering his captured MP-5 John flipped off the safety and drew it to his shoulder and quickly leaned around the corner and spotted Mana's would be assassin.

Out in the hallway stood a very tall man holding two gun's, one pointed toward John's position and one at Negi's head. The man was at the head of the stair way that lead to the lower floors. The ten year old stood in front of the tall red headed man with a determined but slightly fearful expression. "Not to sound cliché, but if anybody moves the boy dies, oh and the building explodes. Wonderful thing modern technology, for example if I don't call a particular number in about five minutes all the van's blow up and collapse the building." The terrorists voice echoed down the hallway.

John could tell that the man was bluffing by the tone . "I'm coming out unarmed, so don't hurt him!" He threw his captured weapon into the hallway and two clips. The Spartan quickly flashed a few hand signs at Mana then palmed the CO2 canister for the dart gun. John walked out into the hall with his hands behind his head and heard Mana and Chachamaru work their way through the holes he had made.

"I want you to lie on the floor."

John had started to kneel down when the arm holding the small gunmetal gray cylinder cracked like a whip, hurtling the impromptu projectile right at the tall mans face. The cylinder impacted just below the terrorists right eye with the force of a pistol shot. Before the terrorist could pull the trigger Chachamaru burst through the wall, all of her jets going full blast. The projectile ripped a large chunk off of the man's right cheek and broke the bone beneath and caused the mans head to twist sharply to the right.

She swooped down and snatched Negi away from the terrorists arms just as the gun near his head went off, missing his head by inches. John raced over and scooped up the sub-machine gun and threw it to his shoulder.

The Spartan fired off a three round burst that caught the tall man on his bullet proof vest.

Mana fired her dart gun through the hole Chachamaru made and scored a hit on the kidnappers shoulder.

Negi and Chachamaru crashed through the opposite wall and landed in storage room.

The terrorist leader teetered back and forth and fell flat on his face, guns falling away from his unconscious fingers.

Silence reigned.

John quietly placed the MP-5 on the ground with its safety on and looked at the myriad faces of class 3-A as they peeked out at him from the various doorways.

John flexed his shoulders and neck, then cleared his throat, "Well that was a bit tiring." More then one jaw dropped at that.

_Thirty one down._

**30 Minutes Later**

In the relief area that Campus Security had set up, class 3-A sat around and stared at John as he reported what happened to the Principle. Asakura looked at John and wondered how he was able to stay so calm. She had never been so afraid. What had scared her most had been the complete loss of control. As a member of the Mahora Newspaper club she _always_ knew when something was going to happen.

The fact that she had known nothing about the attack had left her with a feeling of emptiness that wouldn't go away. What helped was Negi-sensei's and John's attitude about the situation. They seemed so collected, so sure.

She remembered John's face as he burst through the wall and dispatched the four terrorists. He had had a look of serene confidence. As she looked at him now she noted several things in his stance and how he seemed to know where everything was. Absolute situational awareness. John finished reporting to the Principle. They both turned and walked over to the class as they huddled around in blankets that Campus Security had handed out.

The Principle cleared his throat and declared in a strong voice, "As you all now know, the terrorists had planed to blow the vans with you in them. All of should also know that the terrorists had a helicopter ready to take them away. What you don't know is that those terrorists have been arrested and anyone who helped them is either captured or on the run. As you all have guessed John here is more then he seems. John, if you please, tell them who you are.

"I have, for various reasons, been assigned as his bodyguard. Negi needs protection from the family's enemies and I am here to provide that protection. While I am related to him, I am from a distant branch of the family; A branch of mercenaries. For the past fifth teen years I have fought on every continent and in some of the worst wars imaginable. This is my first time in a school and I ask that you forgive any strangeness on my part." John bowed and there was a moment of stunned silence as the class digested the lie that the Principle had told him to parrot off to the class.

John felt no qualms about lying to the class about his origins. It provided a layer of security for Negi and himself in case anyone tried something like this again. It also gave him a more reason to step up security for the class. Asakura stood up, blanket falling off her shoulders and said, "Why did you lie?"

"To protect myself and Negi. The more someone knows about a bodyguard, the easier it is to hurt or kill him or the person he's supposed to protect. I am sorry for the deception it was necessary. "

Asakura looked into the Spartans green eyes for a few seconds and could tell that he while he was sincere he was not telling the whole truth. For various personal reasons and for the Newspaper club Asakura decided she would dig a little bit and see what turned up.

She would get to the bottom of the enigma that was John.

**In A Cave Somewhere, Mundis Magicas, Same Time**

_The cave by itself was not all that special. The tunnel that connected to the back of the cave was nothing special either, that is until one looked a little deeper. If one looked at the tunnels entrance for a while the eye would start to see things, like the opening seeming to take on a predatory cast. The shadows would also seem to change and take on shapes that danced to some otherworldly tune._

_If one was inclined to enter the tunnel they would start to hear things just out of ear shot. They would hear whispers of power beyond the ken of mortals, of riches untold and delights unimaginable. Eldritch laughter would occasionally from echo in the shadows. The shadows would beckon them to continue while gaining more substance and influence with every step. _

_Eventually the terrified soul would find himself in a cavern of epic proportions. The geometry of the cavern would strike some as non-Euclidian and to others normal. In the center of the cavern a tree stood, vast and dark. As tree's go it was a giant of its kind, standing about seventeen stories high. The leaves of the tree where darker than shadows around them and yet shone with a light that was black as pitch and yet brighter then. Every branch of the nightmarish tree was beset with blood red fruit. Each fruit carried tiny faces on their surface and all of them where screaming in agony, a sound only heard if one listened closely. The bark of the tree was like midnight made manifest with little stars swirling where knots and cracks would be in normal wood. _

_The base of the tree was encircled in chains and each link as thick as a human torso. What the chains contained was a man, or what looked like a man. The... thing defied description because it constantly changed it's shape. It looked like a man one second, a dragonish form the next and a squid mixed with a horse if one looked at it from a different angle. The only constant was a mask that beset the face of each incarnation_

_The mask seemed to be grafted to the creatures face and resembled a shield. The mask was sectioned off into four pieces that all bore a different color that constantly shifted in the darklight. The only thing that remained the same where the four eyes on each section. The eyes each where darker then the shadows around . Each eye also was stylized with a single brow and four tears falling away from each eye. _

_The air sung with power around the creature and the shadowy beings danced around the tree endlessly. Insanity ran hand in hand with the madness around the cavern. The only thing that remained the same for any period of time was the two man that stood before the thing before him._

_The taller of the two stood in front of the creature and bowed low. Looking up he said in a language dead before time began, _"My lord, a new Caller is born."

_Two word's echoed oddly through out the cavern, as if the air itself was afraid to carry along the sound._

"Snicker snack."

_The creature bound to the tree smiled, mask cracking in half to reveal a mouth stacked with row after row of razor sharp teeth._

_**End of Chapter 3**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Consumerism! Part 1**_

**Two days later...**

Kugmiya Madoka, Misa Kakizaki and Sakurado Shiina had decided to take a break from the tense atmosphere of the dorms. After the attack everyone in class 3-A had to deal with near hysterical parents calling to see if they where alright. Those not involved in the attack wanted to know what happened and those who where involved wanted to forget it ever happened. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife in the normally cheery dorm. The cheerleaders decided that shopping was the answer and the nearby town and its stores would provided exactly that.

The trio arrived in town around noon and decided that the first thing they would do is eat. They had wandered around for about five minutes randomly peeking into shops argue about what to eat when Misa spotted Negi walking down the other side of the road with someone.

"Hey is that...?"

"Misa hurry up! I wanna go sing some karaoke after we eat."

"No, look! Isn't that Negi and Konoka?" Misa speared her finger at the back of the child teacher and his roommate. Madoka and Shiina looked toward the location that Misa's finger indicated and squinted. Sure enough, Negi and Konoka where walking side by side talking amicably to one another. The trio thought hard on the possible reasons why both where in town. Shiina, face aflame, suddenly turned to the other two and stated. "Y-you don't think their on a date do you?"

The trio clustered behind a statue of a stores mascot. Misa whispered loudly, "B-but Negi-kun is a 10 year old! Maybe they just came to get some clothes like brother and sister?" Shiina started to wave her arms around like some sort of bird. "T-this is bad, no wait, this is _worse_ then bad! It's _bwhad_!" Madoka stopped shaking her fist in the air in front of her for a second before turning to Shiina with a quizzical look on her face, "What?"

Misa slashed her hand through the air between the other two girls. "Enough of that! Negi-kun could get fired if anyone finds out. I calling the authorities." The two other girls looked at Misa in astonishment as she pulled out her cell phone. Shiina wailed, "You mean like other school staff?" Misa placed her hand on the mouth piece, "No, baka! I mean like Asuna!" The ringing ceased and Misa put her ear to the phones speaker.

"_Asuna_! What? Oh, sorry about yelling, anyway, we've got a _emergency_ here! I'm sending a picture now." She lifted her phone a snapped a quick picture with it's camera of Negi and Konoka hold a shirt. "There! What? What do you mean it's not important? She could steal him from you! Asuna? _Asuna? _Damnit, she hung up!" Madoka squeaked and pointed. The other two girls turned and looked at who Madoka pointed at and spotted John coming out of a store on the street corner with several bags of what looked like clothes held in the crook of his arm.

John felt someone observing him and looked around but all he could see was the usual foot traffic and some sort of mascot statue. Twitching his shoulders John walked off and the trio fell from out behind the statue in a untidy heap. Madoka looked at the other two and smirked, "Anybody else feel like saying 'Golly Scoob!' ?" The other two girls groaned, and Madoka just grinned as they disentangled their limbs.

Standing up Shiina spotted Setsuna walking down the street they where standing on. She was clutching a large cloth covered object. Shiina waved as Setsuna walked up to them with a eyebrow quirked and a bland expression.

"What's going on?"

The trio looked at one another then at Setsuna and after a few awkward seconds Shiina blurted, "Negi-kun and Konoka-chan are on a date. John-san's here and if he finds them he might hurt Konoka-chan." The three other girls looked at Shiina like she was crazy. She waved her hand back and forth in front of her chest, "I mean all of us heard what he did right?" Three heads nodded, the cheerleaders knew that he was some sort of mercenary here to protect Negi, and that meant he was dangerous. "We all know how dangerous he is. What if he decides that she's a threat? He could go nuts and shoot both of them!" Misa and Madoka nodded at her logic, as all three of them where unfamiliar with mercs or soldiers in general.

Setsuna replied, shaking her head, "He wouldn't hurt her, I mean he's a professional soldier. What that means, Shiina-dono, is that him she's a civilian and that means if she get's into trouble he would do his best to protect her and Negi-sensei. The chances that he would deliberately hurt a civilian like that are about as likely as a talking white rodent stealing my underwear!"

**Setsuna room**

Chamo had hit the jackpot. Row after neatly folded row laved before his eyes. He figured the owner of these wouldn't miss a few pairs. As he was about to snatch his treasure Chamo let loose a massive sneeze and caused him to pause in his work and take out one of the little cigarettes he carried with him. Lighting the end (somehow), he raised to cig to his mouth and said, "Somewhere, a beauty is calling me."

He finished his cancer stick a few minutes later and resumed his work.

**Back in town**

Setsuna felt a chill come over her. _Maybe I'm catching a cold_. She shook her self and turned back to the cheerleaders. Misa looked at the other three, "Let's fallow Negi-kun and Konoka!" Shiina and Madoka shook their heads eagerly and started off after the pair.

Setsuna was torn for a moment then sighed, "Wait up!" She quickly caught up to the rambunctious cheerleaders. The cheer trio (plus one) laughed and set off.

**Across town, five minutes later**

John was still a little twitchy in crowds. His training had always emphasized to be suspicious of everything and his personal experience had never taught him how to deal with civilian populations. He could not stop searching the rooftops for snipers, or the alleyways for assassins or scanning the crowds for attackers.

_At least I'm almost done. _John thought, as he looked at the list he had made before leaving the dorms. _I need a few more pairs of pants and a few more t-shirts then I'll have enough clothes for a month. _He readjusted the half a dozen bags in his arms. His stomach growled and John felt like sighing. _I haven't eaten anything in three days and I won't have anymore money after I get the rest of the supplies I need._ As a ward of the UNSC he had never had to have pay for anything, but he quickly caught on to the idea.As that mildly depressing thought drifted through his mind, movement off to his side caught his attention.

Two crates where sailing directly toward his head. Acting out of reflex John dropped his bags and lifted his arms. A Spartan II with out their armor was capable of lifting one thousand pounds above their head and was able to catch a paintball out of the air without breaking it (A test Dr. Hasely thought up). The two crates might as well have been paper weights and flying through tar. John caught both crates with ease and looked up as a familiar voice yelled about three seconds too late.

"Oh my god! is anyone hurt?"

"I've had worse." John carefully placed both crates on the ground beside him and turned to Asuna as she limped onto the sidewalk both hands covering her mouth. "I-I'm so sorry. I was just taking those to the dumpster when this cat came out of nowhere and tripped me!"

John noticed that Asuna was wearing some sort of uniform that did... _interesting_ things to her assets. While all Spartans had a reduced sex drive that didn't mean that they did not take notice of the opposite sex. John quickly suppressed the thought. He looked at the sign on the building.

_Anne Millers? Interesting name for a restaurant in Japan_. Turning back he noticed that her ankle was bleeding a little. "Are you alright?" She threw up her hands and waved them a little, her voice dripping with embarrassment, "I'm fine! No really, I'm fine!" As she backed away her heel caught on slight rise that separated the street from the alleyway. A hand shot out and caught her shoulder before she could fall back more than a few inches.

John set her back on her feet. "We've got to stop meeting like this." Asuna stood rooted in place as several emotions played across her mind. John walked over to the two crates and tossed them into the dumpster which was a good 150 feet away at the end of the ally. John then walked up and made Asuna throw a arm around his shoulders. The Spartan helped the teen to the side entrance of the restaurant where she unsteadily sat down on the steps that lead up to the door.

John retrieved his belongings then leaned against the wall next to the silent teen. A awkward minute passed, then another, as neither John or Asuna where willing to break the silence. The cat that Asuna had stepped on walked from out behind the trashcan where it was hiding and started to rub itself against his leg, purring madly. The Spartan placed the bags he carried on the ground next to him. Asuna turned her head and watched as John nudged the cat with his foot causing it to skitter away.

"Sorry about earlier."

"Don't mention it."

Asuna stood up slowly, unsure if her ankle could support her weight and turned to John, "I've got to get back to work." John nodded and turned to go when a thought flashed through his mind, "Say, are there any openings here for a part time position? I need a job to pay off the school entrance fee and supply costs." _Plus money for clothes, food, or anything_, he did not add. Asuna replied, "I think there's a dishwasher position open."

John thought about how his often commented on luck worked for a few seconds, then came to a conclusion. _It's strange at how it flip-flops from misfortune one second to salvation the next. _He shook himself then fallowed Asuna into the depths of the restaurant.

**A roof across town, same time**

On the outskirts of town two men stood on one of the various roof tops and looked down at the street with a predatory air. They had identical features, both where tall and lean, They where also dressed in rather nice suits and both had vaguely northern European look. One was platinum blond and a few inches taller then his twin, who had raven black hair.

"Have you located the new Caller, brother?" asked the taller of the two, face set in a disinterested expression.

"Yes. Both the Caller and the Called are here along with the Callers Pactio holder and several... _interesting_ cases. This is going to be so much _fun_ brother!" The shorter twin replied with maniac grin (emphasis on _maniac_).

"Calm yourself brother, the time will come when you can _play _to your hearts content. For now, lets get going. We've things to do." The shorter twin shrugged as the taller twin leaped to the roof across the street with unnatural agility and whispered, "Yes, playtime will come _soon,_ very soon." The shorter twin walked over to lip of the roof and hopped down.

**The **_**Other**_** side of town, same time**

Yuri Leninoff, ex-Spetnaz operator and former FSB agent and currently criminal mastermind, stalked the side walks and alleyways of the town like a grizzly bear with a tooth-ach. The reasons for his current black mood where currently three fold. The first reason being the injuries he had received during the recent school fiasco where starting to hurt like a _bitch_. The second reason was the man hunt currently underway was starting to get close. The final reason was he had yet to find the_ bastard_ who had broken his jaw and blinded one eye.

Yuri had left Russia in disgrace after a certain incident that involved a generals daughter and a drug smuggling ring. Over the last next twenty years Yuri had committed some of the most daring robberies and kidnappings the world had ever seen. Why, just last year he and around thirty hired guns and kidnapped three separate presidents and their families during a press conference. He had walked away with about 130 million euros and enough money to bank roll the school operation. He still had about 460 million in a untraceable bank account and he had used about 30 mill to bribe the Interpol team sent to transport him to Switzerland for trial.

He had used his contacts in the Ministry of Education to find out who had injured him and the results where surprising. He had never really got a good look at the man who threw _something_ at his face (the speed at which the CO2 canister traveled rivaled a sub sonic pistol shot). After getting the information via e-mail he had flown into a rage. _A fucking child!? A goddamn schoolboy?_ A few hours later he had cleaned himself up and decided that the only way he could move on with his life was to remove a certain silver haired teenager.

Security around the school was too tight to do anything there so he had decided to strike while John was in town.

Yuri grinned.

He had located his target...

**The Plaza in front of the **_**Anne Millers**_**, ten minutes later**

Negi was starting to get hungry. He and Konoka had been walking around town for a few hours now looking for a birthday present for Asuna when Negi's stomach decided to make its demands known. Red faced, he turned away from Konoka's knowing smirk. After a few seconds Konoka announced, "I sure am getting hungry! How about you Negi? Do you feel like getting something to eat?" Negi, even more red faced now, looked down at his feet and mumbled a "Yes". Konoka laughed and started to walk toward the restaurant across the plaza.

Negi was still looking at his feet when they entered the waiting area so he did not see anyone coming out of the kitchen. Everyone watching the resulting collision had been struck by the same thought, _Murphy's law was written by a pervert. _Negi had lost his glasses in the fall however as he bleary opened his eyes certain shapes resolved themselves.

"Strawberry's..."

Negi heard a sound of feminine discomfort nearby as he tried to heave himself up to a sitting position. He saw the blurry shape of his glasses nearby and proceeded to don them. Asuna was just sitting up as he put on his glasses. Asuna looked down and so did Negi. He had fallen between Asuna's legs.

Both shot to their feet and Asuna immediately put Negi into a headlock and proceeded to make her displeasure known. "Ahem!" Asuna turned, still holding Negi a few feet off of the floor and found John standing near the cash register holding the tray with one arm and the drinks that Asuna was supposed to deliver to a customers table in the other. The girl manning the cash register was looking at John with a expression that could only be described as awe.

"Are you two done?"

Asuna dropped Negi like a ton of bricks and hurried over and retrieved the tray from Johns unresisting hand and collected the drinks. The manager poked his head out of the kitchen and spotted John, "John-san what are you doing out here?" John turned and cocked his head, "Ah, Astuki-san, I'm all done with the dish's so I decided to help bus tables if that is alright?" The manager nodded and Asuna carefully walked off with the tray to deliver the order.

Negi and Konoka looked at John, then at Asuna's retreating form, then back at John. Before Konoka could say anything the Spartan cut her off, "Asuna's been working here for about a month, and I started today." The girl at the cash register finally got over her shock and asked, "Welcome to _Anne Millers_, how many in your party?" That snapped Negi and Konoka out of their stupor.

"Two."

"Please wait a moment and you'll be seated."

A few minutes later Negi and Konoka where seated at a booth near the back of the restaurant. Both were silent for a moment before Negi blurted out, "Why is Asuna working here? I thought she was doing the whole paper route thing." Konoka shook her head and asked, "Why is John-kun here? I thought Grandpa set up a line of credit for him that he didn't have to pay off until he was done with school." The duo sat in thought for a few seconds before John came over and took out a pad and pencil. "What can I get you?"

**The Plaza in front of the **_**Anne Millers**_**, two minutes before**

"Both went inside, what should we do?" Setsuna asked the cheerleader trio. All four had managed to somehow procure black tinted sunglasses. Misa turned to the swordswoman, "We fallow them of course! How else are we going to spy on them?" Setsuna huddled by the base of the pillar they where using as cover, clutching her sword case tightly. "I don't like this. We should leave Negi-sensei and Konoka... -san alone."

The cheerleader trio looked at Setsuna, then at one another, each feeling a little bad at dragging Setsuna along. Because of her proximity to the ground, Setsuna caught a glimpse of a pair of strange shoes. _Fur-lined boot's? Who wares fur-lined boots in the summer?_ She looked up, and for a moment fought the urge to gasp. _The terrorist leader from school? What's he doing here?_

Setsuna surged to her feet and plastered a false smile on her face. "You're right Misa-dono! Let's get to spying!" The cheer trio where stunned for a few seconds then started to clap at Setsunas enthusiasm. Shiina smacked Setsuna on the back a few times. "That's the ticket Set-chan! Let's get going!" The cheerleaders raised their fists into the air and let out a resounding "Ohhh!"

Inside her mind Setusna was on maximum alert and already forming a plan to deal with the situation. _First, find Konoka-sama. Second, insure she is safe. Third, contact the authorities. Fourth, protect her until the police arrive. Fifth, protect everyone else until the police arrive. _Setsuna nodded to herself while keeping a eye on Yuri as he made his way over to a café opposite the restaurant.

The cheer trio and Setsuna walked into the _Anne_ _Millers_.

Things were about to get interesting.

**Back inside, present**

John had taken Negi and Konoka's order and was busy wiping down the counter of the bar when a tall raven haired man sat on one of the stools. The Spartan looked up quickly, scanning the man for any hidden weapons, and silently admonished himself for doing so. _Calm down John! You're going to start jumping at shadows if you keep this up. Where will we be if you kill a civvies? Remember, try to blend in. The less you stick out, the easier it is to guard everyone._

John knew if Chief Mendez was there with him he'd say the same thing. Anonymity was the best weapon he had right now, and he intended to use his to the fullest. Lifting his head from his busy work John asked if the stranger wanted anything. The tall man tilted his head back slightly and smiled. Johns survival instincts screamed at him. The polite smile John had pasted on his face evaporated instantly, and was replaced with a face might as well have been carved out of glacial ice.

The stranger spoke in a musical voice that bubbled with menace and joy, "Ah, the One-Who-Is-Young-Yet-So-Old. I've been wanting to meet you for quite some time." John cocked his head to the side, the gesture filled with barely concealed hostility. "Who are you?"

"A forbearer of sorts, a brother to some, but as of this moment in space-time you may call me Skelter." The stranger gave John a ironic half bow from his sitting position. John narrowed his eyes and asked in a voice cooler than liquid nitrogen, "What do you want? You overly know who I am and why I'm here. That means you have studied me or Negi, and that means one of two things." John held up two fingers. "One, you are a ally or two..."

"Two, I'm the enemy, right? I must say, Spartan, you surprise me anew. I had heard that you're kind could only kill. But right now, sitting here, looking into you're eyes, I can see that was nothing but a farce perpetrated by those who feared you and your's." John twitched as the man in front of him threw back his head and laughed loudly. Nearby customers gave Skelter a cursory glance.

Skelter lowered his head and smiled again at John, only this time the madness that John had sensed before had bubbled to the surface. "Do not worry He-Who-Protects, I am not here to hurt anyone here. I am only here to see what type of man who had earned the title of Demon and Ringbreaker." The strange man stood and brushed himself off then turned to John.

"Well, I must be going. Say hi to the lovelies of your class for me!" Lazily waving his hand above his head, Skelter walked to the front door with a graceful gait. Before leaving, the raven haired man looked over his shoulder at John and called, "By the way, our next meeting will not be so... cordial."

Then, with a maniac grin, he walked out the door.

**Negi & Konoka's booth, a minute before**

Negi and Konoka both ordered a Coke and John departed. They looked at one another for a few seconds before Konoka broke the silence with the question, "Why is John-san working? Doesn't he get paid for being you're bodyguard?" Negi was briefly surprised by the question. "The school pays him a little, and some of my pay is also transferred to John's account. Why is Asuna working here?"

"Well, yesterday she told me she was going to take a extra job so she could buy a gift for someone." The silence stretched out until Negi excused himself to go to the bathroom to wash his hands. As Negi was getting up from the booth he nearly crashed into a tall blond man that was walking by. The tall blond gracefully side stepped the ten year old.

"Watch where you're going Caller, someone might get hurt." The tall man looked down at Negi, then sniffed and walked off. Negi was confused for a second then called after the man, "Sorry about that Mister...?" The blond man looked over his shoulder at Negi and said in a low voice, "Helter."

He walked out the door.

Negi stared at the door for a moment then shrugged and continued on to the bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged and walked back over to the booth. John came over and served them the drinks they ordered. As Negi lifted the drink to his lips he saw that someone had written something on the costar.

_Negi, something's come up. Meet me at the counter, now! -John_

**Booth on the opposite side, a minute thirty seconds before**

Setsuna was so engrossed in her spying on Yuri, Negi and Konoka that she did not know someone had approached the booth until Shiina squeaked, "Oh, John-san, what are you doing here?" Setsuna whipped her head around and looked up at John as he replied, "Working. So, what can I get you?" The cheerleaders and Setsuna looked at each other for a few seconds then said as one, "Coke!" John wrote that down on his pad and made his way to the counter. The cheer trio quickly broke out into whispers.

"What should we do? He's here!"

"Gaah! This is like one of those bad American sitcoms Madoka obsesses over!"

"Hey! I just happen to like _Friends_, ok?"

"Suuuuure... How about the twenty or so box-set's you keep in your closet?

Misa once again made the slashing gesture. "Enough of that! We have to figure out how to get Negi and Konoka out of here!" Shiina looked over and saw John talking to someone at the counter. John's face seemed like it was hewn from ice now for some reason. The man that John was talking to threw back his head and laughed and the sound was slightly... insane. Shiina shivered and turned back to the other three at the booth.

Setsuna nodded, agreeing completely with the plan. "How though Misa-dono?" Mesia cradled her chin with her hand and smirked. "It's simple! Here's what we do..." Misa Kakizaki, Kugmia Madoka, Sakurado Shiina and Setsuna Sakurazaki ironed out a plan five minutes later. Two men left the restaurant during that time and only one person had an idea how dangerous one was

**The Café across the plaza, present**

Yuri was tired of waiting. He had been sitting at this crap little café for about five minutes now, just waiting for the little silver haired brat to come out and he was a _very_ impatient man to begin with. He put his hand inside his jacket and played with the Glock-18's safety a bit, then exhaled noisily. He stood up, scratched his head and made his dissension.

His smile was _extremely_ unpleasant...

_**End Chapter 4**_

_**Authors Note:**_ Sorry if the Chief seems so OCC'ish. Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Please R&R!


	5. Chapter 5 Vol 2

_**Chapter 5: Combat, Cat ears and Class trips!**_

**The **_**Anne Millers**_** in town**

Negi was confused about why John wanted to see him. As a matter of fact, Negi was confused about a lot of things. Not that he was _stupid_ mind you, far from it, just _distracted_. So when he walked up to the counter he decided to ask, straight up, what was wrong. "Uhhh, John-san, what's going on?" John looked up at him, face set like a mask and after a second it seemed as if he debated weither to tell him or not.

"Has anyone... strange talked to you recently?" Negi cocked his head to the side and asked, "Why?" John's mask like expression cracked for a second and Negi realized something. _Someone or something spooked him. _The thought throughly unnerved him. Anyone that could spook John, was someone that he did _not_ want to meet. John's face resumed the mask like expression and repeated the question.

Negi thought about who he had met today. Scaning his memorys quickly no one imeadiatly came to mind, then a thought hit him out of the blue. _Wait, that guy who bumped into me counts, I think._ Just as he was about to open his mouth to reply a familiar face walked into the restarunt. _Eva!?_ _What is she doing here?_

The miniscule master vampire walked up to the counter, her eyes never leaveing John's face. A small smirk tug'ed at the corner of her lips as she broke eye contact and turned to Negi. "So he's the guy that's supposed to protect you? Hehe. So Negi-bozu, why do you need protection, humm?" Eva leaned in closer to Negi causeing him to blush lightly. "Does his presence have something to do with me? Because, you know, I could just drain you now." She licked her overly long cannies and chuckled at Negi's reaction, a mixture of fear and emberisment.

She looked over at John and cocked her head, "I don't know who you are, and I know a little of what you can do from Chacamaru. So, I'm going to ask you, who are you?" John wondered what it was about the little girl infront of him that made his _highly_ honed survival sence scream in terror. After a half a second John shook himself meantaly and tilted his head to the side and back and asked in a measureing tone, "Why should I tell you anything, Miss Evangeline? As far as I am concered, you don't need to know. Ma'am..." With that, he turned around and walked into the kitchen.

Eva's suprise was so great that she fell off the stool she was siting on. Negi shot to his feet to help her when Eva surged upright and proceeded to shake Negi by the shoulders violently while screaming in his face, "You brat! You did not tell him about me? The Dark Gospel, The Black Disciple, The Clarion Ring of the End Bell? Thou, to be fair, only a dozen people ever called me that last one... but enough of that!" Negi shook his head and looked down at his feet trying to hide the sheepish expresion that crowned his face. Eva threw up her hands and started to browbeat Negi, "You mean to tell me that you have not told the man who is supposed to protect you that one of his class mates mean's to drain you of you're blood to break a 15 year old curse?"

Eva palmed her face as Negi redened in confermation. Sighing in consternation Eva leaned into Negi's personal space and said in a voice lightly tinged with anger, "I should drain you now just on principle. But," Eva looked over at John as he emerged from the kitchen and smiled fractionitly, "I came here to see the skills of this so called 'bodyguard' and what do I find?" Eva shook her head theactriticly and shrugged with a similar fliar, "A busboy. Not exactly the great soldier Chacamaru had discribed. Oh well, time to begin the test."

With a sigh, Eva pulled a wicked looking dagger from the purse she had slung over her shoulder. Negi perked up at the sight of the dagger, as he was a collector of rare magical artifacts and he could clearly tell that the object held tremendous power. "What's that Evangeline-san?" Eva smiled meantaly at the clear enthuseaism writen on the boy's face. "A spectral projection dagger." Next, she pulled out a object that looked kind of like a snow globe only sans the snow or the cheesey cottage surronded by trees and instead contained what looked like a Roman colliseum at the height of the Empire's glory. Before Negi could ask about the globe Eva headed him off, "You'll find out in a bit."

Eva made a few curious hand gestures and made three slashing motions at herself, Negi and John who had been watching Eva intensely the moment she brought out the dagger. She started to chant quietly and Negi wondered what a 'spectral projection dagger' was and why it sounded so familiar. A memory floated to the surface of Negi's mind and he suddenly remembered where he had heard of spectral projection and why it was dangerous. "Uhhh, Eva, what are you doing? That's dangerous you kno-" Before he could finish what he was about to say Eva finished her chant and plunged the dagger into the globe.

With a flash of light Negi found himself falling. He looked down and saw the ground coming up to meet him, _or is it the other way around_, the thought was met only with blackness.

**Unknown Location, Unknown Time**

John knew he was falling. How he knew he was falling was simple, he saw the ground coming up to meet him. As he had started to fall John had automaticaly assumed the delta-v skydiveing position. Before he hit the ground he noticed something else, he was wearing standard issue ODST urban combat training gear (a black Tac-Vest/kenetic reactive flak jacket, black combat boots, urban digi-camo BDUs, and fingerless gloves) and that he was armed.

Right before he impacted into the ground John righted himself and prepared to land. _This is going to hurt..._

The landing went supriseingly smoothly and with very little pain which brought something to the forefront of John's mind that had been buging him ever since he had arrived a few days ago. _It feels like I'm wearing the Mojliner, even now. Everything I've done lately has been too easy, like I'm wearing a powered armor suit, only it's a part of me now. When I lifted Chachamaru-san above my head I bearly felt the strain and when I fought Ku Fei and Rinshen-san I was fighting with the speed of my armor. Even my weight's off, I should be 320 pounds because of my augmentations. Instead, I weigh about 190, the norm for a man of my size and muscle mass... _

John shook his head and took stock of his weapons and surrroundings. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a colliseum of some sort. Shakeing his head John headed over to Negi's prone form and checked his weapon loadout while scaning the surrondings. _Humm, let's see: a M7S silenced sub-machinegun with a after market mod to accept drum mags, a stock M90A shotgun, two stock M6D pistols in armpit holsters, a four frag granade's, one chest seathed combat knife, one boot seathed throwing/combat knife, enough ammo for four reloads with each weapon except the shotgun and one... wait, what? _

The reason for John's confusion was simple, the reason was simple because he had a _long sword _sheathed on his left hip. John unseathed the sword and looked at it for a second. It felt _right_ somehow in his hand, like it was a part of him that he did not know was lost until now. The sword itself was beautiful, the handle was covered in some type of synthetic leather that had a metalic hue and the hilt and guard where made of some type of silvery material. The hilt also sported twin egales carvings faceing away from one another. The blade itself looked to be made of silver-like alloy.

While the blade was nice to look at John could tell that it was mainly a tool for war. The blade was wickedly sharp and every time he made a experimental swing the sword sang through the air. John sheathed the sword after shakeing his head and continued makeing his way to Negi while his mind calculated possible exit points, fields of fire and lines of sight. Negi was awake by the time John reached him and was scaning their surrondings. Negi paused his inspection of the area to gape at John.

_He looks like a action movie hero! And not the mindless kind, who shoots first and never bothers to ask questions. _What most Spartans did not know that even outside of their armor they gave off a aura of _extream_ deadly comptence and the effect was further enhanced in Johns case by the weapons he now carried. Negi cleared his mind of the sight after a few seconds and continued his study of their suroundings. After studying the white-washed walls of the colliseum Negi's confusion deepened. _Where are we?_

A laugh echoed off the walls of the arena that was instantly familiar to Negi and filled him with dread. A black buldge appered in the center of the stadium that quickly formed into a figure, a figure Negi reconized. Eva strod over to John and Negi with a large toothy (In the fulliest sence of the word) smile. John quickly knocked Negi over and pulled out one of the M6D's and centered the sights on Eva's forehead. Eva paused in her advance for a second and John asked in a deadly quite tone, "Who are you?"

"Well well, I see the bodyguard has a bit of bite to him. I see you took a 300 foot fall without breaking anything, very impressive." As she talked Eva circled the pair and John circled Negi while keeping the sights of his weapon centered on her face. Negi, a little non-pulssed at being so overtly protected said in a slightly iratated voice, "I fell 300 feet?" Eva laughed a bit then placed her hands on her hips and leand forward and adressed Negi as if he was a small(er) child."You? Ha! You only fell about 40 feet."

"You did'nt answer my question. Who are you?"

"Me? Well, since Negi did'nt tell you I guess I should indulge youre curioisty. Youre fist question should have been 'what' instead of 'who' ,because, what I am is something that causes the strongest men to flee in terror. My name is Evangeline Mcdowell and I am master vampire and sorcercess known throuout the underworld as the 'Dark Gospel'." Eva put a hand next to her mouth and started to laugh haughtly.

John blinked at her and cocked his head to the side before answering, "So?"

By means unknown Eva fell to the ground face first. As she extracted herself from the ground she started to scream at John, "What do you mean 'So'? I mean, come on! Most people would freak out if you told them they where a vampire after poping out of the ground from a mass of _shadows _for gods sake! What does it take to impress you people these days. I know, fire! No wait, how about locusts..." She started to mutter to herself about "black rain" and "the skeletons of her slain enemys emergeing from the ground and forming a throne with her on it" and "black lightning strikeing the ground and her raiseing up from the crater on the back of a pit-fiend" after turning away for a second.

After a few moments of muttering fadeing to thoughtfull silence John helped Negi to his feet with one hand while the other kept the weapon on the so called 'master vampire'. Negi tapped John on the shoulder and whispered, "If you can help it John, please don't hurt her. She's my student after all. Oh, and try not to get hurt youre self, she is strong. " The Spartan had to shake his head mentaly at the sincerity in the boys voice. Mercy was not one of the Spartan's strong suites and he knew it, but, he could respect those that had it abundence.

As he thought about mercy (or his lack of it) somthing that had been bothering him poped to the forefront of his mind. _There's to much peace. According to my history, the Terror wars should be just geting underway, yet I have yet to see a headline about the U.S.A.'s war effort. It's almost like I'm in another diminsion... wait, calm youreself John. No need to start advanceing crazy therioes just yet, let's gather a little more evidence first._

Negi stired behind him causeing John to put aside that particular train of thought. Negi looked intently at Eva and declared in a strangely authoritarian voice ( tho John detected a bit of the 'drill sargent' vibe he had used to quiet the class a few days ago), "Why are we here Evangeline-san? If you wanted to hurt me or John you would have done so already. So, _why-are-we-here_?" Eva, startled out of her little revere by the hidden steel in Negi's voice, decided to give a straight answer, "You both are here because of him!" She punctuated the statement with a jab of her finger in John's direction.

John raised a eyebrow slightly. "Why?" Eva rubed a finger under her chin and let loose a urchins grin. "Curiosity!" Negi and John both let out a collective, "What!" Eva's grin became even wider, "Ho ho, I see great minds think alike..." Negi glanced at John and John looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

Eva continued, "Yes, the reason both of you are here is because of John. Chachamaru told me about how you delt with those terrorists. She told me some... _Interesting_ tidbits, like how you picked her up and held her over your head, how you tore through walls like it was tissue paper and how you seemed to be able to see through the dust kicked up whenever you tore through said walls. One particular bit _really _caught my attention, the story you told Chachamaru and Mana... "

"Ah, I see now I have you're undevided attention John. Now, what's this about you being a former member of a super soldier program that was run by the U.N. ?" The cover story was one that the Principle and John agreed on. The reason he fed the class the stuff about him being a Merc was simple, misdirection. Tell one lie badly so the other lie looked more like the truth. Eva leaned foreward toward John and Negi stired, "Hey that's not ri-" John shifted his gaze toward Negi in a _very _threatining maner. Negi let out a little 'Eeep' and shut up.

"That's right."

Eva noded pretending to not have noticed the little interplay. John noticed Eva noticeing. Negi noticed John noticeing Eva noticeing... The new directors of the fic would like to let you know that the old directors of the past three sentences have been sacked and replaced with banjo playing Lammas.

John was muttering something about 'breaking the fourth wall' when Eva continued talking, "Anyway I brought both of you here to test you're new bodyguard." Negi looked around for a half second before addressing the question that had been bounceing around both of their minds, "Where are we?" Eva looked at Negi questioningly then shrugged, "You know where we are Negi. Come on, think!" Negi thought back for a few moments then a image hit him.

"_WHERE IN A SNOW GLOBE?!?_"

Eva snaped her fingers, "Got it in one!" John's confusion was apprent to Eva causeing her to grin, "It's quite simple boy, we are mentally inhabiting a pocket diminsion that is held in a snow globe." Johns confuision deepend and Eva sighed then pointed at Negi, "Tell him where we are, boy and make it quick. The test is about to begin."

Negi turned to John, still a little pale from recent events, and started to explain. "We, currently, are having a litteral out of body experience. Our minds have been magicly detached from our bodies. The bodies we have right now are collections of ectoplasm created as a necceary by-product of the process so we don't go insane. A more simple explaination would be that our minds have been booted out of our bodies magicly and as a resualt our minds created ghost-like bodies to prevent sensory depravation so we don't go insane by the lack of stimulas. Oh, it's also why you're armed. The spell used is called spectral projection."

Negi raised a fist and coughed into it to hide the blush that spred across his face. John slowly holsterd his M6D so that he could puzzle out what he was just told and because he was _sure_ that he could put two in Eva's head before she could blink, let alone complete a hostile action. "Let me get this straight, we had our minds somehow... seperated from our bodies and to compensate our minds created ghost like bodies?"

John crossed his arms and raised a eye-brow, "O.k., I'll accept that. I mean, I live with a child wizard and my millitary carrer was not exactly run-of-the-mill." Shrugging he uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips. "At this point it would take the _sun explodeing_ to faze me. Now lets get this test over with." Negi pieped up, "Umm, that's not all. The spell spectral projection is dangerous. You're mind sometimes does not want to return to you're body. Eva mitagated the danger somewhat by binding our minds to the pocket diminsion contained in a snow globe."

That made sence to John, so he nodded fractionitly. Eva waved her hand dismissing the conversation and turned to John, "Are we done with the exposition? Because it's time to begin the test." With a snap of her fingers the shadows of the arena started to coloace into vauge shapes. After a few seconds a phalanx of shadow people stood before the three of them. John had unlimbered the M7S he carried, flicked off the safety and had the weapon pointed at the shadow men a few milliseconds after Eva snaped her fingers.

Eva turned and with a dramatic flair of her hands presented the beings. "Gentelmen, may I present my Schattenmarionetten." Eva pointed at John and exclaimed in a voice that heeded no arguments, "This is your test bodyguard! Let's see how long you can last." With another snap of her fingers the shadowy horde rushed at the Spartan. John took a few milli-seconds to assess the tactical situation and took out one of the frag granades and chucked it at the lead creature. Not waiting for the explosive to go off John started to fire the M7S at the shadows who where starting to try and flank him.

The 9mm caseless sub-sonic rounds the M7S fired where slightly kinetic-reactive and pre-fragmented and that ment they had a kinetic profile of a slightly larger round and they also designed to cover a large area of a energy shield (UNSC scientists/engineers figured out you don't need a particularly large round to defeat a energy sheild, just ones that where able to cover a _lot _of surface area, thus better able to drain the batterys of said shield). What all that techno-bable means is that to a gun-savy 21st century person, the round fired by the M7S where over-kill to anything _not_ protected by a shield, let alone anything armord.

One of the things they teach in UNSC MOCS (Marine Officer Canadate School) is Stratgic Math and it's little brother Tactical Math. These two disciplines allow a comander to, statisticly, guess who will win in any random engaement and/or campaing. Here's what the Schattenmarionetten where up aginst in terms of tactical math: John (who is the 5th best shot of the Spartan IIs) + Enhanced reaction time (As of right now, because of adreniline and augmentations, somewhere around seven milli-seconds) + Aformentiod projectiles + Heat/Overpressure Wave/Shrapnal from the granade John threw at the _tightly_ packed group = Thirtyseven mutilated/dead shadow creatures in the space of time it takes most people to blink.

Seven seconds after Eva snaped her fingers two-thirds of her little shadow horde was dead while the straglers stumbled around while John picked them off. The Schattenmarionetten had no ordenery sences to speek of, only magical, so when nearly fourty of their number died the massive release of magical power gave the remaining twelve a _really_ bad magic induced hangover, so to speak. One of the creatures had managed to shield itself from the burst of energy and had managed to stay on it's feet long enough to get close enough to strike out at John.

The Spartan saw the shadow creature coming and readied himself to defend aginst the attack. The creature was too close to simply shoot so John opted to finish it mono-e-mono. The creature lashed out with one of its claw'ed hands, however, to John, it might as well have been standing still. John had side steped the clumsy attack and readied to respond when something _odd_ happend. John was going to use the combat knife straped to his chest, but, his hand had instinctualy gone to the grip of the long sword straped to his waist. The moment his hand made contact with the weapon a single word sang itself into his mind... _**SHRIKE**_.

John paused for a dozen milli-seconds and shook himself mentaly, _Later, think about it later_. The Spartan unsheathed the combat knife in one fluid motion and cut the attacking arm right off at the elbow. John fallowed that up by unleashing a full force kick at the things torso. The creature landed ten meters away and after a second or so John gave it a three round burst. The last of the creatures fell a moment or two after.

Eva and Negi where shocked. The entire battle had only lasted about fourteen seconds and John had only moved about seven feet in any direction. John shethed the combat knife with inhuman grace and turned with viperish speed with the M7S leveled at Eva's head. In a quite voice without any descerible emotion, SPARTAN-117 Master Chief Petty Officer John, asked, "Are we done here? Because i've got things to do..."

The emotionless voice greatly unnerved Eva, more so than any shout or warcry could have. _It's like i'm talking to a machine desinged only to kill. _ Eva shook herself and tried to regain her mental equalibreum. Raiseing a shaky hand to her mouth Eva started to laugh like a crazed nobel women. After a few seconds, the laugh pettered out and Eva gave John a shakey smile after exclaiming in a voice fillied with false cheer, "So the bodyguard has fangs _and_ claws!"

John saw how obviously scared she was and decided that she was not a immedate threat at the moment, so he lowered the M7S but kept the safety off. After a few seconds of silence Negi coughed into his fist to get John's and Eva's attention, having recovered from his shock. Both looked at him, John's eyes still without emotion and Eva's badly shaken, as he started to talk. "Umm, Eva, are we done here? Because, like John said, we've both got things to do."

Eva took one look at John's emotionless green orbs before shakeing her head hurriedly. Eva raised her hand and snaped her fingers and the world went black...

**The Anne Millers in town, unknown time**

John opened his eye's and saw he was back in the restarunt. He also knew that he was standing in the same position he had been when Eva cast her spell. Looking infront of him, John saw Negi and Eva also standing in the same positions they had been. A half-second later a slight headach hit him while the word _SHRIKE_ echoed around his skull. John ingored both the pain and the phenomenom to make sure there where no nearby threats (Eva's little test had John's profesinol pairinoa going full bore).

Negi also opened his eye's to find himself in the exact same position he had been before Eva cast her spell. A large headach assaulted him a few seconds after waking as a sound like a church bell rang in his mind while the words _CALLED'S AFINITY_ bounced around his head. Negi rubed a temple to help with the pain while he looked at Eva to see if she was allright.

Eva recovered the fastest, after all she knew what to expect, and gave a John and Negi a quick once over to make sure they where allright. Eva, having regained her calm after canceling the spell, looked at John and gave him another _toothy _girn. "You did well for a mere bodyguard. One of these day's i'll have to a sample of you're blood. Anyway, the tests for today are done, but, don't think i'll hesitate to test you again. If where done here, I shall take my leave..."

With that, Eva turned and started walking toward the door. Negi called out after her, causeing her to look back breifly, "Before you leave Eva-san, could you answer one question?" Eva shook her head affermitive. "How long where we in that place?" Eva smiled, "You said you graduated Magic School right? You should know the answer to you're question." With a rueful shake of her head Eva called out "A half second" while continuing to walk toward the door. Negi's jaw droped at that particular bomb shell. _A half-second!? _Negi shook his head in disbeleif.

As soon as Eva was not in the line of sight of the restarunt she sat down in a chair of a random chaffe. While Eva might not have attmited it to anyone, even to Chachamaru, she was scared. During her fight with Negi Eva did not really go all-out even when Asuna came to help. She had mainly wanted to test Negi's skill, but had ended up rescued by Negi. She had been toying with him and that had lead to her running out of time to use her powers fully, then she got rescued by said chewtoy.

She designed her test figureing that Negi would have taken at least ten minutes to beat her little challenge while the bodyguard she had heard about would get overwhelemed and beaten unconcious. Instead, her horde died fifthteen seconds into the test by someone who seemed to have super human levels of strength and speed.

While Eva would only be mildly concerned if she had her full power, she knew that as she was, she would pose no challenge to the bodyguard if he decided she needed to die. _This development is unexpected._

_**Mask Of The Gods: Costume and Cosplay shop, **_**Two hours, Thirty minutes later**

Asuna and John finished their shifts two hours after the Eva's test. John decided to head back to the dorms but Negi, Asuna and Konoka managed to convince him to tag along. However the trip through town was _not_ uneventful. Every time John and Asuna or Konoka and Negi started to window shop two slightly familiar pairs of people would but in.

Thirty minutes later they had ended up in a costume shop. After Konoka forced Asuna to dress up in several different _reveiling _outfits, with Negi bulshing all the while and John scaning the surroundings for any more of Eva's tests, Konoka started to bore of her plaything and set her sights on the stoic Spartan. She staired at him a while before going off to one of the racks of the shop and pulling down a cat ear accessory.

She gestured for John to lean forward. He complied, figureing there was no harm in playing along. With ears in place he stood back up and continued his subtle scan of the surroundings. What John did not know was that with his good looks, ultra serious aura and cat ears, John was reaching _cuteness_ critical mass. Konoka asked him to cock his head to the side and he complied in his customary fashion, which had always posessed a curious catlike flair. Asuna, Konoka, and any other red blooded women in the shop all let out a nosie that can only be described as "SQUEE!" and started to bleed from the nose.

John wondered if he should apply first aid...

_**Lake Overlook, **_**One hour later**

The sun was setting and its dying rays set the lake on fire. John, Negi, Asuna and Konoka all looked at the spectacle, all of them lost in their own thoughts. John's thoughts where about a certian criminal mastermind. Negis thoughts where about Asuna. Asuna was thinking about birthdays and Konoka was wondering about if Setsuna was happy.

The reason John was thinking about Yuri because a few minutes after they had left the costume shop John had caught sight of the terrorist leader in one of the shop windows. A few minutes later John was certian they where being tailed. After leading the group through a particular twisty part of town John had determined they could not loose him. Fakeing a loose shoe-lace John told the rest to go on. After the rest of the group walked on John walked into a nondescript ally.

Yuri fallowed armed with a taser, his glock and a poor mans scilencer (A plastic bottle and tape), determind to exact his revenge. What fallowed would probably have qualified as one of the most brutal beatings in the history of burtaldom. Suffice it to say, that John rejoined the rest of the group a few minutes later without a scratch while Yuri sported enough broken bones to make singing 'the hip bone is conected to the leg bone' kind of difficault (Because, in Yuri's case, you needed seven verses to say the exact same thing). The only reason he did not kill him is because he did not want the police after him.

Konoka wished her childhood friend could share the sun set with her. They had grown apart in recent years and she did not know why. Try as she might, Konoka could not strike up a conversation with or even get a emotional reaction out her long time friend. The scilence was starting to hurt and Konoka did not like geting hurt. Her train of thought was interrupted by Negi coughing into his fist.

Negi took out a small gift wrap'ed package from one of the bags he carried and presented it to Asuna. Her bleak thoughts dispelled, Konoka also presented a gift to Asuna. John, who took his que from the other two, presented small gift to Asuna as well. In unison all three chanted, "Happy birthday!"

The cheer trio and Setsuna, who had been masquradeing as other people to watch/stalk Negi's group, let out a collective sigh of relief. Setsuna especially. She had been worried about Konoka's safety with the kidnapper's leader on the lose, so, when John had wandered into a ally she had feared for the worst. With a quick excuse to catch up in a few, Setsuna hurriedly made her way into the ally. What she found was a broken shell of a man muttering something in Russian she could only assume was "_**PAIN!!!**_" After a bit of moral deliberation she kicked him in the chest and when he curled up further into a ball stomped on both his knees (He did hurt her after all). With that done she dusted herself off and hurried to rejoin the cheer trio.

Yuri continued to whiper on the ground of the allyway in Russian, only now alternating between "_**PAIN!?!**_" and "_**KNEES!!?**_" or a combination of the two.

Asuna was stuned. Whipeing tears from her eyes she looked at the three and whispered, "Thank you. All of you." At that point Chamo came running down the street with a particular set of panties in his mouth. Setsuna did a double take, then stood up from where she and the cheer trio where hideing and yelled after the rapidly reatreating ermine, "Hey! Those are mine!"

Setsuna remembered she was supposed to be hideing and looked over at Konoka who was staireing at her. Setsuna, cheeks buring red, was silent for a second before blurting "bye". She took off full speed after Chamo. The cheer trio, cover blown, quickly presented Asuna with a few gifts before running after Setsuna.

Konoka watched Setsuna's retreating back for a few seconds before smiling...

**Mahora girls dorms, A few days after, Morning**

Negi woke up as he usually did, in Asuna's bed and early. He nimblely hopped down from bed and started to get dressed. John's futon was put away, as he normaly doing calistics behind the dorm at this hour. The noise woke up Asuna and Konoka. Asuna inquired what he was doing up so early, he replied that he had to get to school early to arrange things for the class trip. Asuna and Konoka got up so they could prepare for the trip as well as Negi headed out the door.

Negi ran to the train station, excited to finaly get this tip going. What he found was a ring of students and the sounds of what sounded like heavy breaths coming from the center. One of his students, Haruna Saotome, saw him coming and waved. "Ohh, Negi-sensei, how's it going?" Seeing nearly half his class up and about caused him to blurt, "Wahh, you're all up early too?" That got a laugh out of Haruna and a few other's that heard.

Negi, curious, asked what the ring was about. Haruna gestured a few other's out of the way and Negi saw what all the heavy breathing was about. John had some kind of over stuffed back pack on and was doing hand stand pushups while slowly scisoring his legs forward and back in time with the push ups. John did not seem to be exerting himself at all, he even had his eye's closed, so Negi turned to Haruna and asked, "How long has he been going at it like this?" Haruna placed a hand under her chin and thought.

Yue Ayase answered him, "I got here three hours ago and he had just finished doing some push ups. He started doing what ever that is soon after. I lost count of how many he's done." Nodoka squeeked "3,498". John finished two more before nimbly fliping to his feet. He streatched for a few minutes before opening his eyes. He looked around for a few seconds before clearing his throat, "How long have you girls been here?" A round of laughs greeted his question. Someone told him around three hours, to which he replied, "Really?" That also got a laugh, while John berated himself mentaly.

Negi shook his head then claped his hands to get the classes attention after looking at his watch. That's when he noticed the guidence counseler, Shizuna. "Oh, hello Ms. Shizuna, how are you on this fine morning?" She smiled. "Just fine Negi-chan, just fine."

Negi smiled back and had a feeling this was going to be a unforgetable trip...

**Mahora Train termainal, one hour later**

Negi stood before his class on the train and asked, "Are you guys ready to have a good time?"

The answer was a resounding, "_YES!_"

Negi smiled and pointed toward their destination and exclaimed, "Next stop, _Kyoto_!"

Class: _"WHOO!"_

John: "Umm, Sensei, Kyoto's the other way..."

Negi: "Ohh.."

**Eldritch Cave, same time**

Helter and Skelter kneeled before the non-echludian tree, while what sounded like organ music played with a saxiphone screeched in the back ground. The shadows still continued to whisper their promises of power though the two before the tree had long since learned tuned such things out. Helter spoke aloud to the _thing_ tied to the tree.

"Yes my lord, both Skelter and I have done as you asked and observed the Caller of the 13th pair. I did a quick scan of the boy and found that he possess massive amounts of talent and power. His skills are untapped and untrained. Also, his Pactio holder is in a... violent relationship with could quickly be used to our advant-" A sound that could only be described as a moose being fead ass-first through a wood chiper inturupted him. Helter lowered his head quickly and muttered an apology.

Skelter rose his head as the sound finished. "Yes my lord, I have done as you asked and observed the Called of the 13th pair. I seen into the mind of the Called of this pair and all I saw was steel, pure untarnished _steel_. His mind is a forterres and the bits I could see where, I thought I'd never say this again, _terrorifying._ All I saw where wonders and weapons, the walking dead, and a unceassing war the likes of which i've never seen. But what scares me the most is that the Called survivied and triumphed when all else around him fell. My lord, I bealive that the Called this time is one of the most accomplished soldiers the multi-verse has ever seen."

The sound like a egael being eaten by a squid breifly ecohed around the cave and Skelter shook his head and smiled, "No my lord, i'm not affraid but happy. If anyone can give me the warriors death I deserve it's him." A sound could not be described filled the cavern and Helter shook his head affermitive, "Yes my lord, i'll send the Cat to test them and the Hatter to observe." Helter and Skelter both suffled back into the darkness leaveing the _thing_ chained to the tree to it's mad imagineings.

Two words softly floated from lips of the never changeing mask mounted on the ever changeing body, "_**Jabber Wocky**_..."

_**End Chapter 5, Volume One**_

_Auothers End Note:_ Hey everybody! Hope you like the new chapter! Sorry about the updates but R/L has started to rear it's ugly head. If some of my wrighting seems strange, well, that's becuase most of this was writen around 2:30 AM. Anyway time to sleepzzzzz......


	6. Chapter 6 Vol 2

_**Chapter 6 Vol 2: Between Incredibly Lame Pun And A Hard Place**_

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in this story except the O.C.'s I've created to dance to my mad tune.

**A/N:** Hey everybody! The update schedule for this story is going to get random for the next couple of months, so I'm apologizing in advance. Oh, and I'm going to start separating the story into volumes to help with organization. And one more thing... sorry this chapter is so short....

_**Please R&R**_

**Bullet Train, A Few Minutes Later**

To the anyone not familiar with Spartans it would seem as if John was sleeping. What he was really doing meditating to try to figure out why he was hearing music. It had started around right after Eva's test and had not stopped since. It was a haunting melody, orderly yet chaotic, and it really was starting to piss John _off_. Even when he was sleeping it plagued his thoughts.

What was _really_ odd about the song was that if John concentrated on it a single word would pop into his consciences... _**SHRIKE**_. It would eventually fade and voices would start to whisper things to him in a language he could not identify. At that point John would try his best to ignore the song, and the voices would start to fade.

It was maddening and a bit frightening to John. He had seen things and had things talk to his mind that would make lesser men curl up in a nice corner for the rest of their life's. He wondered if all that mental trauma was starting to take it's toll. John decided to stop that bleak train of thought as Negi made his way to the front of the train car with Shizuna, the school guidance councilor.

The boy wizard cleared his throat and started to speak. "All right everyone! The 15th annual school trip is about to begin! Please make the most of these five days and four nights! There will be a lot of free time on this trip for the groups, so I think it will be a fun trip for everyone! Please trip not to get hurt or los-" John raised his hand, "Yes John-san?"

"Watch out sensei..."

"What do you mea-"

Before he could complete his sentence one of the train attendants hawking box lunches slammed her cart into Negi's back causing him to fly face first into the floor. John shrugged and went back to his bleak thought's, while Asuna merely sighed and grumbled, "Seeesh.." A second or so later she thought to her self, _it's going to be one of those day's._

After a few student's asked if he was ok, Negi muttered a weak excuse and walked back to his seat as the train got underway.

**The Dimensional Sea, Unknown Dimensional Warship, Midnight Ship Time**

Rick, the D.D.S. (Dimensional Disturbance Scanner) duty officer, was bored. Manning the dimensional monitoring equipment was always a less then present duty, but he had the night shift (Because of a incident involving, contraband booze, a female engine tech and a few hours between duty shifts). Nothing ever happened during the night shift, and to make matters worse they where in one of the more tranquil area's of the dimensional sea. To kill some time Rick had pulled out a month old magazine titled curiously enough '_Modern Magic'._

While distractedly reading a article titled "_Retro Or Not: Wand's_"a holographic window popped up and beeped to get his attention. Sighing, Rick put down the magazine and tapped a few keys. A few seconds later he had a frown on his face and was rapidly tapping keys. A minute or so later he leaned back in his chair.

"Huh... That really weird." Rick tapped a few more keys and another holographic window popped up with the face of the bridge duty officer. The women on the other end of the connection looked up and asked, "Yes?"

"Ummm, Captain the D.D.S. just picked up a faint shockwave indicative of a brute force dimension shift. And, well, you should see the data for yourself." Rick quickly tapped a few more keys and sent the data he had collected so far to the O.I.C (Officer In Charge). The Captain's face looked to the side for a second then frowned in confusion.

"Is this-"

"I believe so ma'm. The pattern match's ancient Belkin shifting technology and the under laying pattern match's the host universe's magic waveform by eighty-four percent." The Captain's face turned thoughtful for a few second's, then she shook her head and focused on Rick. "Good work Kato. Keep it up and I just might convince the Chief to put you back in the daytime duty roster." Rick smiled. "Now, I want you to pull all relevant data about the host universe and use that to make a preliminary report."

The Captain cut the connection and Rick just sighed. _Should'a just kept my big mouth shut._ Looking at the amount of data he had to go through he sighed a little louder._ It's going to be one of those nights..._ With that in mind he started to his search for the relevant data in the ships archives.

Captain Julie Sinclair sighed and looked around the tomb quite bridge. _Why is it always so quite at this time of night?_ Sighing again she made a note of what D.D.S. tech Rick found in the ship's log and made a mental note to bring it to the attention of the Admiral next time she saw him. Looking around the bridge again Julie placed her elbow on one of the command chair's arms and placed her chin on her palm.

_It's going to be one of those night's..._

**Bullet Train On It's Way to Kyoto, Three Hours Later**

As the train sped on John sat wondering what else was going to happen. A hour or so into the trip the class was beset by frogs which, while unusual, was not what you would call a threat. A minute or so later he, Ku Fei and Kaede had managed to capture the two hundred or so slippery little amphibians. What kind of boggled his mind was that Kaede had a bag with the word frog written on the front.

When he approached Negi about what had happened (The whole affair stank of magic) the boy seemed to be searching himself for something. Before he could ask about what was wrong the sound of something flying through the air caught his attention. Cobra quick John's hand shot out and caught a piece of paper in the shape of a bird. Before he could speak the bird disintegrated in his hand.

Asking Negi about it a white Ermine that he had seen running around the school hopped on his shoulder and told John that that bird was trying to steal a letter Negi was told to deliver while in Kyoto. At this point in his life John was beyond surprise. The only part that caused him to pause was when the talking rodent called him 'Scary soldier-san'.

After finding out that the bird was a shki-gammi John decided to take it to the only expert in Japanese magic he knew, Setsuna. After explaining the situation he asked she could learn anything by examining the paper. A few minutes later, shaking her head, she told him that the only information she could glean from the remains was that the person who made the bird was a woman. Thanking her he promptly returned to his seat and pondered.

_Well, that was odd but helpful._ Looking around he was fairly sure it was not anyone in the class and that meant a outside element was behind the incident, frogs and all. He knew of Negi's mission and the significance of the letter he had carried. The schools Principle had seen him about Negi's mission and had asked that he help him out discreetly.

As he sat and thought the song in his mind started up again driving John to distraction. He sighed and tried to meditate again. Before he fell into the frame of mind needed a thought floated to the surface. _It's going to be one of those day's..._

A few moments later...

John was brought out of his meditation by the trains PA announcing, "We_ will be arriving in Kyoto shortly." _Stretching his back a little John reached up to grab the single bag he had taken for this trip. He listened with half a ear as Negi started to tell the class to get ready. "Everyone prepare to disemba-" John raised his hand. "Yes John-san?"

"Watch out sensei..."

Negi whipped around and found nothing, only to get hit in the back by the a _large _suite case that had fallen from the overhead storage compartment. Once again he made a weak excuse as the other students asked if he was alright. John shrugged his shoulders and chalked it up to a bad case of Murphy's law.

_I think I'll need to train him before he kills himself accidentally. _With that departing thought John readied himself for what was to come.

**Dimensional Sea, Unknown Warship, 8AM Ships Time**

(A/N: In case your wondering, time flows differently in the dimensional sea)

Rear Admiral Jean Luke Sulu McCoy (His friends called him Jack) frowned at the report that D.D.S. tech Rick had compiled. Jack was a easy going man (And if the rumors where true, a bit of a drunk) and his command style called for loose discipline during tours like this, so the serious face that he sported made the rest of the bridge crew weary.

The TSA Hull Number-117, _Star Fury_ class dreadnought _Lady Luck_ was one of the few actual warship's that the Time Space Administration kept in case of emergencies. She was also old, like 50 years old, so she was constantly under repair by crack Mage Machinist Mates. Beside the repair crew, the rest of the crew could be _loosely_ described as misfits, and it showed. Their helmsman had only one eye, a eye patch and a strange tendency to talk like a pirate, their navigator was obsessive compulsive and their weapons techs where triplets that had a annoying habit of finishing each others sentences (Nicknamed Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Shoot Evil In The face).

The two Enforcers they had on board where a bit odd as well. Both where S+ ranked but beyond that they where considered useless. The first was 78 year's old (And had a _bad_ case of Alzheimer's) and the other was 16 year old bishsounen who'd rather get a good tan than fight. The ships Marine compliment was no exception. The Captain in charge was a womanizer, his XO (eXeutive Officer) was a former bikini model, and the rest where known collectively as the 120 Thief's. The only normal ones where the ship's XO, Captain Julie Sinclair, and Master Chief, First Class, Engineering, Grant Stibons (Even if he had the mouth that would make most sailors blush).

Captain Sinclair, who had just arrived on the bridge, saw how many people where paying attention to the Admiral and not their duty stations. "_Action-front_ people!" More then a few people jumped and turned back to their stations. Turning to the Admiral she coughed into her fist to get his attention and asked, "What do you think Sir? Is it Belkin?"

Jack looked up and frowned. "No, it's not Belkin, but something about this is familiar. It's like... the Belkin's used this technology to make their dimensional engine. See here?" He turned the holographic window towards her and pointed at two wavy lines that represented the pattern of the disturbance and the pattern for a Ancient Belkin dimensional engine. To Julie they looked exactly the same, so she shook her head and said, "I don't see the difference Sir."

In response Jack zoomed the graphic in a bit closer then Julie understood what he was talking about. From a distance both patterns looked the same, but on closer inspection the pattern for the Belkin engine had small micro tremors while the pattern they had picked up last night had _no_ micro tremors. Julie quirked her eyebrow and looked back at Jack. "I can see you're reasoning Sir."

Julie sighed internally and remembered the reason the Admiral was out here. Jack was a certified genius at ship handling and dimensional physics, so, the rest of the Admiralty felt that even though the ship was a dumping ground they needed someone that they could rely on in case a warship was ever needed. Julie was in the same situation really. The only one who wanted to be here was the Chief and not even the Admiralty could figure out a better use for the man.

Jack, after turning the window back around, thought about the data for a few seconds then shrugged. "Lt. Mayweather please set a course for..." Jack rattled off a string of numbers that signified the location of the universe that the disturbance came from.

The one-eyed man nodded and replied, "Aye cap'n..." Jack looked at Julie at quirked a eyebrow. "But I'm not a capti-" Julie cut him off, "I know Sir. just ignore it..." Jack just shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head. _Well at least the crew can function at the very least_. After a moment or two another thought crossed his mind. _Now, where did I hide that bottle of rum?_

Two hours later a blood curdling yell emerged from Admiral Jack's quarters, "**WHY IS THE RUM GONE?!!**"

**Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Two Hours Later**

_Interesting..._ Thought John as they finished taking a group photo. He had been standing next to Kaede for the photo, when he noticed more of those paper birds in the air. He gave no indication that he had seen them and fallowed the rest of the class. _Better the spy you know, then the spy you don't._ The girls of the class chatted and remained oblivious while John watched the sky for threats.

One of the girls near him, Yue, started to talk about where they where. John paid her little attention after he spotted what she was drinking, a juice box labeled 'BBQ Sauce & Mango Surprise'. He shuddered internally and resolutely decided _never _to ask her about her drinking habits. Yue started to talk about a fortune telling place that they could use to find out about there love life's and immediately several girls started to push Negi toward the indicated location.

John sighed and ambled along after them, deep in thought. _These incidents indicate that the 'they' want to annoy rather then kill, which just doesn't make sense. _John decided that to think on this later and jogged to catch up with the rest of the class. John arrived on the scene just as someone announced, "This is the stone that foretells your love life!"

Curious, John walked up to the girl nearest to him, Chiame Hasegawa, and asked what this was all about. The girl jumped a little, as she had not heard him approach, and shrugged her shoulders. John nodded and decided to watch. Apparently, the objective was to get from one stone to the next without opening your eyes. John could of done that in his sleep with a broken leg although he had no desire to participate.

While watching the class president, Makie, and Nodoka stumble around John noticed something was wrong. Someone had dug a pit fall. Striding out from the crowd then around Ayaka and Makie, John walked up to the spot and stomped lightly (For a Spartan at any rate). A hole opened up beneath his feet, a hole filled with frogs. The questions being shouted at him died down.

Turning John spoke softly to the two who where quickly shuffling toward him and the hole. "Incho-san, Sasaki-san you're both headed toward a trap. Please stop." Both opened their eyes and saw the hole they where running toward. Ayaka frowned at John and asked, "How did you know?" To answer John pointed at the dirt surrounding the hole and said smoothly, "Freshly moved soil always has a different color." Ayaka nodded and Makie let out a "Ohhh".

Both girls frowned at the barely audible "G-goal!" as Nodoka made it to the stone. John chuckled softly at the irony of the situation. Makie spared him a second glance as he finished laughing. _He has a nice laugh..._ John caught Makie's glance and cocked a eyebrow causing a blush in response. The rest of the class laughed as Asuna and Ayaka started to fight with one another and made their way to the next fortune telling spot.

The class made their way to the next hot spot, a waterfall that fell upon a temples roof and was split into three subsistent streams. The girls all swarmed over to the stream that Yue announced would bestow good fortune and marriage. After drinking from the stream for a few seconds many of the girls started exclaim how good the water tasted. John frowned as he watched the scene with Asuna and Negi.

Many of the girls where starting to get red-faced and wobbly on their feet. John walked over to the stream and poked a finger into the stream and pulled it out and then licked the end. _Alcohol... _Asuna saw John look up at the roof and frown. _Something on the roof is making the class act weird?_ Asuna quickly made her way onto the roof fallowed closely by John and Negi as the class started to pass out.

The trio found a large tub of sake placed so it's contents mixed with all three streams. Asuna shook her head and wondered who would do something like this before hopping down to help get the class back on their feet. John and Negi both wore identical expressions as they stood on the roof and thought. John's mind was going over the tactical implications of their enemies actions while Negi was still reeling from what happened.

While his mind tried to work out the problem John let his eye's wander. A half second later he spotted two teachers from Mahora converging on the classes current location. He lightly hopped down and moved to intercept the two teachers before things could get blown out of proportion. Wavering his hand to get their attention both teachers turned to look at him. The first teacher, Nitta greeted John warmly, "Ah, John-san! How's the man who aced the entrance exam?" The other teacher, Naruhiko, raised a eyebrow at the admissions councilor cheerful grin and the _deadly_ serious boy.

John dipped into a small bow and asked in a quite voice, "Just fine Nitta-sensei. I was wondering how my application for the advanced academics program is doing, if you don't mind?" Naruhiko was a bit taken aback by how polite the _foreign _student was but then recognition dawned in the man's mind. "This is him? The one who scored a 100%?" At Nitta's nod the youthful looking teacher smiled.

While John and the two teachers talked Negi, Asuna, Konoka and Yue all tried to wake the class out of their alcohol induced nap. John internally winced at some of the noise they where making while he tried to distract the two in front of him. Naruhiko finally noticed something going on behind John a few minutes later and asked, "What's wrong with them?" John looked over his shoulder at the class laying on the ground obviously asleep and shrugged. "My class took a short hike before we came here and most of the class are not used to that sort of thing so we decided to take a short break. It seems that a combination of fatigue and the pleasant surroundings has caused many of them to nod off."

Both teachers chuckled at that. After a few minutes of conversation with John (Who treated the two teachers like military officers), both men nodded and walked off talking animatedly about Johns future academic prospects. A few seconds later Shizuna walked up and asked Negi the same question before John could intercept her. After a few minutes of confused conversation the students still able to stand started to help their friends to up so they could load up onto the bus.

While John was carrying Ku Fei and Nodoka on his shoulders he spotted Setsuna on the roof of a nearby temple. He quickly gestured to her join up with the rest of the class and she responded with a 'wait' gesture. He nodded his head and continued on.

Up on the roof of the temple Setsuna whispered quietly to herself, "I guess I'll have to step up the overt protection..." She walked off the edge roof a few seconds later and landed in a slight crouch and continued on like the fall was nothing. At the top of the temple a man wearing a brown trench coat and black fedora whispered to himself, "Yes, you do. Tell me, what do you think Cat?" A _massive_ panther climbed out of his shadow and spoke, "I think talking to yourself is not conducive to you're mental health Hatter."

**End Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7 Vol 2

_**Chapter 7: The Obligatory Hot Spring Episode, Oh, And Explosion's...**_

_**The Laughing Dragon**_** Hot Springs, Kyoto**

Steam... John's world right now was composed of steam and warmth. As he sat in the hot spring, SPARTAN-117's mind filed through the event's of the day. _One odd event after another. Whoever is running the opposition has a juvenile mindset, if how they have been striking at the class is any indication._ Releasing a sigh, John let the hot spring work it's magic on his muscles. Few know this about SPARTAN II's but even they needed some down time once in a _extremely _rare while.

A few minutes later John's augmented hearing picked up someone coming into the spring, breaking him out of his musings. By the pattern of the step's, the way they where close together and the sound of the foot itself hitting the ground, the Spartan was able to deduce that the person was in his preteen's and male by the gait. Armed with this information the Spartan was able to quickly (And correctly) guess that Negi was entering the spring.

John decided to mostly ignore Negi for a while so he could think about his current situation. If any of the other SPARTAN II's saw him right now they would probably accuse him of _going native_, and the worst part for John was that he could not deny the accusation. He was gradually getting used to civilian life and deep down that bothered him.

Only one SPARTAN II had given civilian life a try, Maria-062, and the last report he had of her said she was still trying to acclimate. What bothered him the most, however, was one question that he had started to ask himself a decade ago after a particularly ugly food riot that the SPARTAN's put down. Would he have better served humanity if he had never have been conscripted for the program? Sure, his leadership had helped keep his fellow Spartan's and marines alive through thirty year's of hell, but he had always wondered if he would have helped more if he was a Admiral or a politician.

Hearing Negi and his familiar start discussing the strange event's that had happened made John realize something. It was mostly a moot point now as most of the Spartan's where dead and his time would better be served by living in the now. He started to move toward Negi when he heard the sound of someone else making their way to the spring. Peering through the steam he was able to make out the distinct silhouette of a young woman.

Listing to Negi whisper to Chamo, John was able to find out that the stranger was, in fact, Setsuna. After a few awkward moments moments, John heard the soft intake of breath and the sound of feet shifting. His combat instincts kicked in and before he knew it, he was riseing from the water and snatching up a nearby rock. Spartan time kicked in and Johns eye's tracked the shadowy form of Setsuna as she rushed at Negi with her sword drawn. With his mind calculating the necessary force and speed needed to accomplish what he wanted, John reared his arm back and let his impromptu weapon fly.

Setsuna was about to let loose one of her clan's techniques at who she assumed was a spy/assassin, when a rock traveling about three times terminal velocity sped past her head. This caused her to stumble away from where the rock had gone. Before she knew it a hand like a vise grip had clamped around her sword arm and a iron hard arm had snaked around her neck. A voice she knew spoke right into her ear, "Hold bodyguard. You where about to attack Negi."

Setsuna, now that the steam had cleared, realized that the voice spoke the truth. Ashamed she stopped struggling and the arm's restraining her let her go. Turning to the Spartan to apologize she noticed her unclothed state and promptly blushed from head to toe, a action soon copied by Negi. John shook his head slightly at the situation and turned so that Setsuna could cover herself with the towel she had discarded so she could bathe.

Once she covered herself she planed to once again try to apologize, but that plan was derailed by a very familiar scream. John responded instantly and all but flew to the entrance of the spring. He was fallowed after a few moments by Setsuna and after a second or so, by Negi. While John was running he removed his last resort, a non-reflective steel throwing knife that he had taken to storing in his braided hair (He had kept the hair style to better blend into the civilian population).

Flipping the knife downward John felt the familiar weight of command settle onto his shoulders. The last of the SPARTAN II's, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 flew through the door to the dressing room preparing for the worst, but what he saw that day would forever be seared itself into his memory.

_Monkeys?_

For the first time ever, something caused John's thought processes to come to a complete stop. After a brief instant the only thought that rattled around his head was, 'wha?' before thought reasserted itself. Before him Asuna and Konoka where getting striped and/or molested by what looked like tiny monkeys. Setsuna and Negi bareled into the room shortly after John and shared similar reaction's before a round mutual embarrassment in sued.

John, who was able to quickly able to get over any hormone driven impulse, quickly garbed one of the tubs used to store people's clothes when they used the springs and chucked it at the monkey' attacking Konoka. The monkeys, who had knocked Konoka over and where busy carting her off somewhere, jumped over the tub while keeping their hands on the girl. Negi, with a quick flash of intuition, discreetly cast a levitation spell on Konoka with a training wand he had recently taken to constantly carry.

Setsuna saw her chance and quickly dashed over to Konoka and jumped into the air. Using her momentum, Setsuna caught Konoka and landed several feet away from the primates. John was about to attack the gaggle of monkeys when Negi latched onto his waist yelling something about how they where only poor animals. This stopped John for about 1.3 seconds before he simply dragged Negi over to the offending animals.

John quickly lashed out at one of the confused primates with a half strength kick causing it to pop like a balloon, scattering paper everywhere. Everyone but John stopped what they where doing while the Spartan played stomp-a-mole with the remaining monkeys, including the one's accosting Asuna. As silence descended on the occupants of the changing room, Konoka and Setsuna realized their respective situations.

"S-Set-chan?"

With a squeak Setsuna dropped Konoka and sped off like the devil was licking at her heels. John took the moment of silence that fallowed to quickly look around for more enemies and/or potential threats. Konoka sighed in dejection and Negi and Asuna looked at her concernedly. After a few pregnant moments Asuna realized her current unclothed state and promptly yelped and covered herself.

Negi, and surprisingly, John took a few moments to _also _realize Asuna's nakedness. Both male's fled the scene red faced (A/N: In John's case it's just hormones... or is it? HAHAHAH!) fallowed by several random objects and the word 'PERVERTS!'.

**Two Hours Later...**

John knew the line was cliche' but it fit the situation around the inn. _It's quiet... too quiet._ There was a super natural stillness to the air and it set John on edge enough to ready some equipment that he had managed to convince the Principle to get for him (A/N: John's broke people...). Slipping on the gray tactical vest over his school uniform and belting on a holster to his right thigh, the Spartan did one last equipment check.

_One Colt 1911 modded to accept a silencer and extended mags, said silencer, two 6 inch non-reflective throwing knifes, one 14 inch double bladed combat knife, and one flash-bang. _Grabbing his braid, John checked to see if the three inch _shank_ (for lack of a better term) was still in place. John mentally sighed and wished he had more hardware at his disposal.

As John stood to leave through the window his left hand started to itch slightly and the whispering that had plagued him all day intensified for a second. He ignored it and hopped out into the night and into the shadows. About 15 minutes later John came upon Negi, Asuna and Setsuna all talking in hushed tones. Sticking to the shadows the Spartan was able to over hear what they where talking about.

After a few minutes listening in John shook his head. _Talking about things like that in public, without making sure there are no ease droppers? _*Sigh* _Well, they are children. They'll learn one way or another. I just hope they are alive when all of this is done and that's my job. _Shaking his head, John slipped deeper into the shadows just as the three did joined hands in some type of pledge.

A few minutes later John was shadowing Negi while keeping the inn in sight. John managed to overhear Negi's pet rodent (John still harbored a dislike for the animal/person/whatever) talk about one of the uses of the card in his hand. _I wonder if another mage could jam the telepathic link? _While John thought of the tactical applications of telepathy, Negi's cell phone rang. After a hurried conversation Negi put away the phone and turned to run back to the inn but something falling from the sky stoped him and John.

With a loud crash a... _womeninamonkeysuit_ (Thinking about the situation quickly helped John distract himself from the absurdity) with Konoka in her arms landed in front of Negi while John stuck to the shadows. John was about to intervene when he remembered the conversation he had had with the headmaster before the trip had started.

_The Spartan stood at attention in front of the Headmasters desk and waited motionlessly for him to finish his paper work. Five minutes later the older man placed the last bit of paperwork into the 'OUT' bin on his desk and looked up seemingly surprised that John was there. After taking a few seconds to regain his composure, the Principle smiled and started to stroke his beard. "Oh, John, good to see you. I assume that you are here to find out why I summoned you?" _

_At John's slight nod the Headmaster continued, "I called you here to talk about the trip coming up. Negi is going to under some pressure during the trip and I want to set up some rules for you or as you military types like to say some 'Rules of Engagement'. The first rule: You are to insure that the class comes to no harm during the trip. The second rule: Negi is to come to no PERMANENT harm. What this mean's is that during the trip I expect Negi to get into a fight or two, however if it seems that he, or any partners that he has, look like they could die or be crippled for life you are to step in. Other then that, shadow him and provide any discreet assistance as needed. The third rule: Lethal force will be allowed if the situation call's for it. But I'd like to get through this mess without any body bags."_

_After a few seconds the old man seemed to nod to himself and smiled up at the Spartan. "That's all for now. Bring me a list of supply's you'll need to carry out your 'Mission' and I'll see what I can do." The Headmaster swept his hand toward the door, "That will be all."_

John gave himself a mental nod and faded deeper into the shadows. A few seconds later Asuna and Setsuna where pulling monkey... things off Negi. A brief round of discussion in sued and the trio where off after the monkey suited women, while John kept pace. A minute or two later the kidnapper had made her way to a train station and on to one of the train's while Negi, Asuna and Setsuna kept hot on her heels. John had taken to the train's roof and had used his enhanced hearing to keep track of the people inside the train.

After a hectic twenty or so seconds for Negi and co. John heard Setsuna say something about 'Charms of Warding' and a few seconds after that the Spartan heard monkey women mutter something. The sound of water filled the car bellow and the sound straining metal. Ten seconds later the Spartan was about to do something when the door to the next car over was split perfectly down the middle.

Monkey woman was caught in the sudden surge of water and was swept out of onto the loading platform along with Setsuna, Asuna, Negi and Chamo. A few words where exchanged and monkey woman was off like shot with Negi and co. hot on her heel's again. John saw that the kidnapper had also picked up a shadow as well and kept sending discreet glances at said shadow for reassurance. That meant her shadowy ally was in control or more powerful than her.

The chase abruptly stopped on a massive stair case with John crouched in the rafters of the train station ready to spring in to action. More word's where exchanged and the kidnapper ditched her monkey suit which made John feel a bit better about the whole situation (He did not know if the suit was armored or not). After a few more word's where exchanged Setsuna rushed the kidnapper.

The women held up a little strip of paper and chanted something, then threw it. Not even a second later the strip transformed into a flaming kanji character that would of burned Setsuna into a crisp had Asuna not grabbed the back of her yukata and yanked her back. While this was happening Negi had finished his own chant, sending a wave of air at the kidnapper knocking her back a few feet and dispelling her spell in the process.

_So this is a mage's fight, _John thought. Giving a mental shrug as Negi activated his contract with Asuna, the Spartan had only one thought, _I've seen weirder_. The kidnapper seemed to realize her tactical situation was not in her favor, with the use of two more charms to summon two giant animal _things_ to help her fight against the uneven odds.

A few moments later Asuna had banished one of the large animal summons and was fighting the other with some type of battle fan. Setsuna was to busy dealing with another swords women named Tsukuyomi to get to Konoka and Negi was busy preparing a spell to deal with the monkey obsessed women.

John decided a half second later that a distraction was needed if Negi was to succeed in his little gamble. After taking out the flash-bang John quickly calculated the angle, speed and timing to get the little device to do what he wanted it to do. However right before he could implement his plan the itching on his left hand and the voices whispering to him both rose to a level that soon became hideously painful.

_Call me... _

_**Call me...**_

**Call me...**

Call Me...

_Call Me..._

_**CALL ME, AVATAR! CALL ON THE SONG OF SALVATION AND DESTRUCTION!  
**_

John, for the first time in a long time let his instincts totally guide him, if only to escape the pain. Words came to the Spartan, words of power, words he had known since he had awoken in the clearing a few weeks ago. Blue green flames consumed him as he fell from his perch in the rafters.

"_**SHRIKE WAR-SINGER! AIRES PROTOCOL!**_"

The situation below had been resolved in team Negi's favor, when John's shout had alerted the others to his presence. Negi, Asuna, Konoka and Setsuna all rushed toward the Spartan as he fell. Their rush faulted when John burst into flames while still in the air. A few seconds after the flaming mass that was the Spartan hit the floor, the flames died down allowing the others to cautiously approach him.

John's tac-vest, school jacket and under shirt where gone. His left hand now had a small green gem on the back, while his right hand now had a complex tattoo on the palm. Silence descended on the group as they stared at the still smoking Spartan.

Asuna voiced the groups thoughts, "Now what?"

End chapter 7

**A/N:** Hey all, sorry it took so _long _and how short the chapter is but I had some issues to deal with in RL. Anyway I'm going to start pumping out chapters weekly and/or every two weeks, so you won't have to worry about when I'm going to update next. Talk to you all later, bye.


	8. Chapter 8 Vol 2

_**Chapter 8 Vol 2: Dreams, Teen's and Magical Energy Beams...**_

_**A/N:**_ Hey all... Nothing really to say... *Cough* Ummm, on to the show then.

**Unknown place, Unknown time...**

John's first conscious thought when he came to was,_ that hurt like a BITCH!_ A curious fact that UNSC combat psychologists had noted a few years into the war that the SPARATAN II's almost never cursed, aloud or even mentally, unless they where experiencing a level of pain that would render most people catatonic. As the Spartan regained his mental footing he began to look around.

A white featureless plane as far as the eye could see stared back at him. After a few more seconds of inspecting his surroundings and seeing nothing John decided to check himself out. Everything looked fine except for the small green gem that had adhered to the back of his left hand and the small complex tattoo on his right hand's palm. The tattoo general shape was of two black crescent's bracketing a small white sphere. What made the design complex where the blue stylized Greek letters that where superimposed on both crescents as they spiraled into the white sphere.

His greek was a little rusty but after a minute or two he was able to figure out what they spelled out.

_"The River Styx is mine to tame, where I'll be kept warm by Hades flame. While the Heavens above and the Hell's below, scramble to find a place for every mortal soul, it will be I who always deal's the final blow. And while the dance of life and death goes on, the last thing the universe will hear when it ends will be my final song."_

After that morbid little poem, one word stood in the center of the white sphere in blocky blood red greek letters, "_SHRIKE_". John stared at his right hand for a few moments before tearing himself away to look at the gem on his left. The gem itself was of a deep emerald color and as far as he could tell it was also a perfect half sphere. John, after a few moments of debiting with himself, cautiously reached out and poked it with his right index finger.

At his touch the gem announced in weirdly accented greek, "_Standby mode off. Project SHRIKE online. Loading Aries subliminal training program. Estimated time until completion... 4 days, 12 hours, 37 seconds. Starting program." _A few seconds later a single a black dot appeared on the white horizon. A half second later another appeared next to it, this pattern continued until John decided to ignore the phenomenon.

What really captured his attention was the shadowy figure that was approaching him. At about two dozen yards the shadow started to gain some definition. At about 15 feet the shadow gained female traits. John stood rooted in place as the shadow became someone he considered family and would gladly give his life for.

Kelly...

Last he heard she was M.I.A. on Onyx along with the other SPARTAN II's. For the first time in a long while John was overwhelmed with emotion. He wanted to run to her and embrace her, laugh at the fact that she was all right, or break down sobbing at the fact that they where the only two left. His emotional turmoil came to a abrupt halt when Kelly raised her head and stared at him with eye's so dead of emotion that John knew that the image in front of him was not his long term teammate/friend.

John tensed and asked, "Who are you?"

_**"Why do you fight?"**_

John was taken aback by the question. The shadow started to circle him and repeat it's question.

_**"Why do you fight, Spartan 117?"**_

The question really struck a cord within him as he never really thought about _why_ he fought before. After he started to see the other SPARTAN II's as family his reason to fight went from _'I don't know' _to _'I fight for them'._

"I fight for my comrades."

The shadow cocked it's head as it stopped in front of him and shifted forms into that of the SPARTAN II program creator, Dr. Catherine Halsey and placed it's hands in the lab coat's pockets that the doctor habitually wore.

_**"Why do you REALY fight Spartan? You're comrades are dead and/or missing. There must be more to you're reasons."**_

John was once more sent reeling. The shadow was right, his reasons had shifted during the war from _'I fight for them' _to _'I fight for them and all of humanity'_ all without him realizing it.

In a firm voice John replied, "I fight for humanity!"

The shadow shifted form to that of Linda in full armor.

_**"Then why did you help the Arbiter? You could have ignored him or killed him and still accomplished you're mission. You could have even used you're AI to fire all the Halo rings except the one near UNSC controlled space, probably destroying the Covenant Empire, and insuring Humanity's future."**_

The Spartan felt sick at the thought of doing what the shadow described. _Why do I feel this way? I've killed thousands before, so why would the thought of firing the Halo rings give me such a feeling?_ A soft in the back of his mind gave him the answer, _Because you're not a monster..._

_But all those life's I've taken... _The voice replied, _Yes you've taken many life's, but it was always in defense of life that you took them. Many of you're fellow Marines, ODST, SPARTANS, Navel Personal, and Civilians are alive today because of you. You destroyed the Ark to protect a GALAXY. You are not a bringer of death but a chooser of the living!_

_I understand now I think._

Squaring his shoulders John faced the shadow and spoke in a voice filled with as much conviction as he could muster, "I fight for LIFE!"

The shadow smiled and shifted forms again to that of Cortana.

_**"Well done Avatar. You'll have a great decision to make in the future, but, for now sleep with the knowledge that you have found you're true purpose."**_

With a wave of it's hands John's world faded to black.

**Dimensional Sea, TSA Hull Number-117 **_**Lady Luck, 9PM**_

(A/N: Remember time flows differently in the dimensional sea.)

It had been three day's since the _Lady Luck _had received the strange signal and Lt. Rick Kato was once again manning the D.D.S. station. To kill some time Rick had pulled out a well leafed through book titled _Potter Harry: How to cause trouble and get away with a slap on the wrist_. The console beeped at him a minute later.

The Lt. put his book away and started to type away at the keys languidly, but, after a few seconds with increasing speed. After he finished typing, he pursed his lips then sighed. "Another one, uh?" He typed a few more commands and a com window opened up in front of him showing him the Admiral himself.

Jack looked up from his slouch at the window and asked, "Yes?" Rick cleared his throat and in his most professional manner possible, "Ahh, Admiral the D.D.S. just picked up another signal from the universe we are heading toward and I thought you'd like to see the data I have compiled." Jack smirked at the younger man, "Still on the Chiefs shit-list?" Rick blushed and started to stutter out a apologize, when Jack waved him off. "Calm down son, I'm just messing with you. Please send me the data... There it is, thank you." The com window vanished and Jack chuckled.

After a few minutes Jack was staring at the holographic window containing the data muttering to himself, "That's impossible... they all died off... wait! That it! A descendent! Yes!" Taking a few seconds to compose himself, Jack typed a bit and another com window opened a minute later. Captain Julie Sinclair appeared with slightly blood shot eye's and stared at the Admiral, "Yes?"

"Tell me Captain, what where the three major powers during Midchilda's final war?" Julie squinted at something off screen, "Sir. I just got to sleep. Can this wait until my shift comes up?" Jack smiled, "Please, indulge an old drunk." Julie sighed, "Fine." Cocking her head to the side she gathered her thoughts. "Well... there was us, the Mid, the Belkins, and the Zeno's who remained neutral to that whole war." Jack nodded, "What happened to them Captain?"

Julie narrowed her eye's at him, "We beat the Belkins and their survivors became citizens of Mid. The Zeno's where overwhelmed by the Belkins before that and 97% of their population where wiped out. The other 3% where never found." Julie stared hard at the Admiral, "Sir., what's this about?" Jack's smile became even deeper, "Tell me Captain, what do you know about the Zeon?"

The Captain decided to play along since the Admiral wasn't being forthcoming. "Well, they appeared about two-hundred and thirty years before the war started. No one knows where they came from, they just burst onto the global scene and started a technological revolution. They where the first to take a scientific approach to magic and in the end they where the one's who created the first Intelligent Devices and their own breed of I.D.'s, Integrated Devices. They where also responsible for giving ancient Belka the dimensional drive and they where the only other country to survive the Fall(1)... Wait, are you saying that signal we picked up was from a Zeon shifter drive!"

The Admiral shook a finger at the com window and said with a amused smile, "Not yet, tell me more." The Captain did not look amused but decided to play along, "During the final war, Zeon mages where considered the best in the world. They where the only country that where able to fuse a I.D. directly with the mage, insuring that ALL of the mages mana could be used, thus the name Integrated Device. This meant that a A ranked Zeon mage had the power of a S rank and a Zeon S rank could hold off a small squad of SS ranked mages. That's all I remember about Zeon and the final war. Now, what's this about sir.?"

Jack leaned back in his chair and smirked. "Lt. Rick just picked up a signal on the D.D.S. Care to guess what?" Julie shook her head and Jack's smirk deepened, "It was a Intelligent Device activation pulse. What type of pulse you ask? Well, I did a quick search on the Mid-Net and the pulse matches that of a Zeon device activation kept in some obscure governmental archive." Julie stared at Jack for a few seconds and asked in a quiet voice, "You think there's a survivor don't you?"

"I'll do you one better. I think the remaining 3% made it here in a ship and the one who activated the Device is one of there descendents." Julie frowned, "Descendent?" Jack sighed, "Julie, according to my calculations it would of taken a ship with a Zeon shifter drive forty three year's to make the trip to where we are going. And even people in cryo need to exercise every two decades or so. So, yes, descendent."

Julie frowned, "Forty three years? It only took us a week to make it here and we where only a day away from Midchilda." Jack scratched the tip of his nose and continued, "You have to remember Captain that our shifter drive is hugely more efficient and our understanding of the effects of dimensional travel is much greater than it was then. The only thing preventing us from being scramble across the D-Sea is the bubble of reality that surrounds the ship. Our perception of time is controlled by the bubble and before we left it was set to Midchilda time, a feature not available on older drives. They all used a default time setting, even if no one knows where the Zeon got the it from."

The Admiral scratched the back of his left hand absently, "By the old time scale we have been traveling for twelve years and in another three years we will arrive at our destination. But that's besides the point now, because in six hours we will be in position to teleport some observers in. What I want you too do Captain is to go through the Marine's dossiers real quick and select those who have the smallest criminal records. Don't worry about NCO's (Non Commissioned Officers), I'm going to personally select several to provide leadership. After you've done that forward the data to me then get back to sleep."

Julie was annoyed at missing some sleep but nodded, "And what are you going to be doing sir.?"

The smile that Jack's face now sported was not nice in the least, "I'm going to be putting the fear of god in a certain bunch of thieves."

**Steps Leading to the Kansai Magic Association Headquarters, 3PM**

Negi sighed for the 78th time since they had left the _Laughing Dragon_ and Asuna had to use all of her willpower to not smack him upside the head. "STOP THAT! I SWEAR TO GOD THAT IF I HEAR YOU SIGH ONE MORE TIME I'M GOING TO HANG YOU BY THE ANKLES FROM SOME TREE IN THE WOODS AND COVER YOU WITH HONEY!" Let it be said that Asuna could never control her mouth in the same fashion. The volume of Asuna's voice caused Negi to take a few involuntary steps back.

Tears started to come to Negi's eye's. "John-san still hasn't woken up yet Asuna-san! It's been four day's!" Asuna looked anywhere but Negi and said in a soft voice, "I know..." She then cleared her throat and looked directly at Negi, "I know Negi-bozu but worrying yourself to death won't help anyone, so try to relax a little bit, ok?" Negi nodded and took a deep calming breath. He gave Asuna a bright smile, "Thank you Asuna-san I'll try to remember that in the future."

He then turned to the steps and said in a bright cheerful voice, "Let's go!" Asuna, meanwhile was looking at the back of his head thinking, _I wonder if he's bipolar?_ A loud pop of displaced air scared the crap out of both Negi and Asuna, who after calming themselves, turned around and spotted... _A chibi Setsuna?_

A brief round of question and answer insured. The chibi Setsuna was really a sikigami created by Setsuna to watch over Negi and Asuna. All three humanoids (Plus one magical Ermine) turned back to the step's. Negi looked over his shoulder at Asuna, "Maybe you should bring out your fan." Asuna nodded and started to mumble random Latin words, ending with, "Caltu Verada Nicto! ...Humm, I thought for sure that was going to work." Negi and Shiki-Setsuna gave her a deadpan look, "It's Adeat, Asuna-san and please don't reference the Evil Dead in this fic. It's hard enough to maintain the fourth wall as it is."

"Wha...?"

"Never mind, lets go!"

_Definitely bipolar..._

Unknown to any of them a certain Librarian decided to fallow them.

**Same place, Thirty minutes later...**

"IF I WANTED THIS MUCH EXERCISE, I WOULD OF GOTTEN A TREDMILL! WE HAVE BEEN RUNNING FOR THIRTY MINUTES AND I'M GETING TIERED, SWEATY AND I HAVE TO PEE REAL BAD!" As the echoes of that rather frank out burst started to die down, both Shiki-Setsuna and Negi shared one thought, _I did not need to know that._ Chamos thought's on the matter involved several things that where biologically impossible, and one out right violated the laws of thermodynamics.

Both Shiki-Setsuna and Negi gave Asuna a reassuring pat on the shoulders as she lay defeated on the ground. Negi coughed into his fist and asked Shiki-Setsuna, "We are obviously in a spell of some sort and I was wondering if you had any Idea's as to what type of spell we are in?" The little shikigami placed her chin atop her fist, "Humm... I need to test something. Come with me Negi-sensei! Please stay here Asuna-san."

Asuna gave a languid wave and rasped tiredly, "Fine by me. I'm just going be dieing slowly here." Negi nodded and ran with Shiki-Setsuna ahead of Asuna's prone figure. A minute or so later Negi nearly ran over Asuna, coming from the other direction. Shiki-Setsuna hit her fist into her open palm. "We're in a infinite time space/spell! In other words where trapped in the Thousand Gates until either the mage who cast it banishes the spell or it runs out of energy!"

Cue freaked out Asuna, Negi and Chamo. Shiki-Setsuna tried to clam everyone down but only ended up making it worse. As Negi's panic reached it's worst, a clam female voice spoke to him, _calm yourself Negi Springfield! You're a teacher, so ACT LIKE ONE! _Negi stopped what he was doing at the moment and looked around. He turned to Shiki-Setsuna, "Did you just say something?"

"I've been trying to get you and Asuna-san to clam down for the last five minutes and you ask that NOW?" Both Negi and Asuna stepped back cautiously. The little shikigami took one claming breath and said in a overly pleasant tone, "Oh, look a rest stop was caught in the time space field too. Both of you should take a break before one of you go crazy!" Negi and Asuna exchanged glances and shared the same thought, _are you sure it will us who go crazy?_

Negi took another look around the area for the owner of the voice he had heard. Chamo noticing that Negi had stopped asked quietly, "Aniki, what's wrong?" Negi shook his head, "Nothing Chamo. Must of imagined it..." Chamo shrugged (A action that would of had a biologist scratching his head) and took out a ermine sized cigarette and muttered, "Weird..."

Irony folks! You gotta love it.

**Rest stop, Thousand Gates, 15 minutes later...**

_Whoa, he's fast! _Was Negi's only thought as the boy who had bumped into him earlier that day in a game center's fist was about to meet his face. A minute or so earlier Negi, Asuna, Shiki-Setsuna and Chamo where talking about the affects of Negi's contract with Asuna when a giant spider fell from the sky with the game center boy standing on it.

Asuna managed to beat the spider with one blow of her fan and started to attack the beanie clad lad when he counter rushed her and used some charms to knock her away. The boy rushed Negi then and managed to blow through his last ditch spell. The situation now looked rather grim to Shiki-Setsuna as she watched the fight.

The world started to get a little bit fuzzy as beanie boy's fist came closer and Negi felt something react within him, something older and a lot more deadly. Pivoting around on his right foot and crouching at the same Negi drove the blunt end of his staff into his attackers gut. The combined energy of Negi's pivot and the other boy's momentum caused the air to get knocked out of beanie boy's lungs.

While the other boy just started to react to the massive blow to his belly, Negi rose from his crouch and grabbed the other boy's shirt. Using the leverage he had gained Negi threw the other boy in a textbook perfect Judo throw. The other boy had enough sense to minimize the damage from the fall and managed to tuck himself in a ball mid flight.

This turned out to be a good move on his part, because the space his head would of occupied otherwise was now being filled with the heavy end of Negi's staff. A few feet away Asuna stood with her mouth open a bit as her eye's flashed shock and recognition, "No way! He was moving like John. When could he do that?" Chamo stood on her left shoulder a second later, "What do you mean Ane-san? Aniki is just really strong!"

Asuna shook her head to clear away her shock and rushed to Negi's side. Meanwhile Negi's attacker was just then coming to his feet clutching his stomach. "He... hahahha, not bad small fry." Not too far away Nodoka was looking at the book in her hands with concern. Nodoka also held a contract with Negi and the book in her hand allowed her to read the thoughts of those around her. _What was that Negi-sensei? _

Her book text had changed into a different color (silver) and the image on the top of the page had become startlingly realistic. The text of the page was different from how Negi normally thought too. _Lean, Pivot, Duck, Staff Strike, Shirt Leverage Point, Throw, Enemy Will Be On Ground, Finishing Strike, Enemy Evaded Strike, Assume Defensive Stance._ The picture and text resumed their normal color and Nodoka sighed with relief.

Meanwhile Negi was shocked as well, _Was that really me? What was that?_ The world went blurry and the same women's voice from earlier started to speak. _That, young Springfield, was one of the effect's of being a Caller. _Negi tried to look around to see who was speaking to him but his body felt like was underwater. _I'm speaking to you with my mind Negi and I need you to listen even if I've stretched a few seconds into a minute. _

_What you just experienced was some of John's skill's bleeding into the link you share. In effect, you just became a master staff fighter and a adept in a few different martial arts. You need to be careful child, you're body isn't used to the strain, mental and physical, so in a long protracted fight you'll lose. Now, I'm not telling you this for free so I need to deliver a message to John when he wakes up. The one who unsealed the Hudson Casket wait's for him in Colorado._

Negi's mind was filled with so many questions at this point that he could only ask one.

_Who are you?_

_My name is Cortana, but don't tell John that. Oh, and Nodoka... Good luck..._

Nodoka 'eeped' in surprise and looked up from her book but saw no one in the area and blushed a little when she looked at the picture. It was a depiction of her and Negi getting married and a large badly drawn hand was giving her a thumbs up. Negi shook his head to clear it of some the questions that riddled his mind and looked at Asuna, "I have a plan."

Asuna's, Shiki-Setsuna's and Chamo's ear's perked up a little at that and a few seconds later after a bit of whispered conversation Chamo threw a smoke charm while Shiki-Setsuna set it off. Negi's attacker, who had lost his beanie thanks to the gut shot, was waving around his hand angrily to clear some of the smoke, "COWARD! Why are you running? WHY? Come out and FIGHT ME!

In a clearing not to far away Negi turned to Asuna, "Are you hurt Asuna-san?" Asuna smiled and patted Negi on the head, "I'm fine brat. So tell me what this plan of your's is and it better be good, we where winning!" Negi shook his head, "No, he's been holding back the whole fight and I for one, don't want to make him get serious. Anyway, here's my plan..."

About a hundred meters away Nodoka was continuing to read when she heard someone yell, "Found you! Huh?" The black haired boy who had yelled tripped when he saw who it was and ended up looking up Nodoka's skirt. Both blushed deep crimson and separated. The black haired boy coughed into his fist and asked, "What are you doing here nee-chan? Didn't you see the 'no entrance' sign?" He looked around seemingly agitated, "Well that doesn't matter now there's going to be a fight around here so it's dangerous to stand around. I'll shut down the trap later to let you out nee-chan so just stay here 'k?"

Nodoka, meanwhile, was freaking out. _It's him! The strong boy that Negi-sensei is fighting! What should I do? What can I do? _Looking down she saw the card clutched in her right hand and had a idea. _That's right! The card!_ Nodoka took in a deep breath and asked, "Um... my... my name is Miyazaki Nodoka, what's yours?" The boy smiled and pointed a thumb at himself, "My names Inugami Kotarou! See ya later pink panties nee-chan!" With that unique good bye said Kotarou took off in search of Negi.

"Adeat!" The book appeared again in her hands and Nodoka thought, _Inugami Kotarou. He doesn't seem like a bad boy._

**Thousand Gates, A few minutes later...**

Negi and Asuna stood in the middle of the gates and waited for Kotarou's arrival. Not being one to disappoint Kotarou came them bounding atop the aches a few seconds later yelling, "Let's go small fry! You and me mono-ah-mono!" Negi started to chant a spell and a second or so later ended with, "_Contra Bugnent!_" Seven spectral versions of Negi flew at Kotarou, who chortled, "You finally getting serious about this fight!"

As Kotarou finished off the seven air elementals with a combination of hand to hand and throwing knifes, Negi was finishing his next spell, "_Sagitta Magica Serius Fulgralis!_" A dozen magical beams of light flew at Kotarou just as he finished off the last spectral Negi, catching him flat footed and destroying his shield charms. As Kotarou readied to attack again, Negi finished his last and most powerful spell, "_Fulgrantio Albicanis!_"

A beam of pure lightning based mana flew at Kotarou covering the area where he had stood in steam. Kotarou, unbeknownst to the other's be knownst to us, used one of few ninjustu techniques he knew, _substitution_ at the last second. Negi waited for the steam to clear with baited breath, hoping the fight was over. When the steam cleared Kotarou stood looking a little worse for ware, but other wise unharmed.

Kotarou started to laugh, "Hehe... haha... hahaha... HAHAHAHA! YES! That was awesome small fr- wait, I mean Negi. Now, let's kick it up a notch." With that he rushed Negi and Asuna. Asuna summoned her fan and counter charged. When Asuna was close enough she swung her fan with all of her strength but Kotarou used a burst of speed to doge her attack and started to attack Negi. Kotarou went for a gut shot but Negi blocked the attack with his staff. The force of the blow sent Negi skidding

Kotarou, not as surprised this time, instantly reacted and bounded forward throwing a left hook at Negi's face. Negi used the blunt end of his staff to block the punch, and used the skinny end to trip Kotarou forward. Kotarou did a forward front flip and barely ducked under the baseball style swing that Negi launched with his staff. Asuna had recovered by then and attacked with her battle fan. "Leave Negi alone, I'll take you on fighter... guy... thing!" Asuna slashed at Kotarou a few times but he managed to doge all her attempts.

Kotarou tripped her to gain some more room to fight. Kotarou decided to even the odds a bit and started to collect nearby shadows around him. "Listen onee-chan, I'm not a fighter. I'm an Inugami-Tsukai! And you better remember it!" The shadows took on the shapes of dogs and started to howl. "Listen guys! Go play with that onee-chan!" The shadow dogs ran and leapt at Asuna. They started to lick her all over... yeah.

"Ahhh.. haha, what's with these dogs!" Negi blushed just looking at the scene, but managed to tear himself away from Asuna just as Kotarou threw a barrage of punches Negi's way. Negi used his staff to block most of the punch's but several got through and sent Negi flying into a nearby boulder. Kotarou rushed Negi as he was getting up while gathering nearly half of his ki into his fist, insuring that if he landed a blow he would emerge the victor.

"I've won! Time to finish this!"

Time seemed to slow for Negi and he could only think of what he was leaving behind. _The class, my friends, my family._ Suddenly memories started to play across his vision, but, strangely enough they weren't _his_ memories.

_A fog blanketed field. Bodies dressed in gray armor littered the ground along with what could only be described as monsters beside them. Two figures in green armor covered in mud started to talk amidst the carnage. "What happened here?" The other figure shook his head, "The 281st made their last stand. Took a few company's of the buggers with them, too."_

_Looking around the other figure in green pointed at a rather large pile of monster bodies with the body of a man in a gray uniform nearby. "And that?" The other green figure shook his head and held out a small piece of paper to the questioning figure. "That's the Major. Gave up the ghost to protect some civvies who where to injured to move. Took out a few squads but died from one too many plasma rounds. Wrote that with his last moments I think. Greek, from the looks of it. You speak greek don't you? What's it say?"_

_The other figure took a deep breath and started to speak..._

"Here I stood, and I could do no other..."

With those words the world changed for Negi. Negi started to speak words that he always knew, but could never remember until now. "_From The Void, I Call Upon Thee! John-117! Caller Contract Activate Until My Foes Are Dust In The Wind!_" As the world sped up again Kotarou slowed a bit at the rapid babble of words but when no spell was forthcoming he put on a extra burst of speed.

Shadow's covered Negi's eye's as Kotarou neared him. Asuna watched on helpless while Chamo and Shiki-Setsuna struggled against the shadow dogs. Nodoka gasped as her book started to fill up two pages at a time. Konoka's father (A/N: Couldn't find his name when I was writing this) looked up from his calligraphy as a strange power filled the air.

As Kotarou's fist neared Negi's face, Negi looked up again and with a seemingly lazy motion stopped the Inugami's fist with his open palm. The ground behind Negi exploded, creating a trench about 15 yards long, four yards wide and one yard deep. Kotarou was flabbergasted and more then a little angry. Gasps resounded throughout the clearing as the two human's, ermine and shikigami at Negi's action and his eye's.

They had changed from a warm chocolate brown to harsh unforgiving silver.

Kotarou was about to attack again when Negi simply closed his hand around the Inugami's fist. With inhuman strength Negi pulled Kotarou off his feet toward a spot to his left.

The Inugami instinctively protected his face.

Negi swung his staff one handed at Kotarou's gut.

The swing connected and launched the Inugami two dozen yards away. Kotarou landed and lay still. A pin dropping could be heard in the silence that fallowed. Negi's only thought on the matter where the words of a dead man.

"_Here I stood, and I could do no other..._"

Negi knew whose memory that was, it was obvious now that he thought about it. It was John's. That was what John had to deal with for a few decades. It made Negi proud to have known John and a little ashamed that he was going to give up that easily when other's have had it so much worse.

_Never again_.

Wheeze'ing laughter broke Negi out of his thoughts. It seemed Kotarou was not out of the fight yet. He started talking as he changed into some other form but Negi ignored him in favor of preparing a spell. Just as Kotarou looked up after finishing his transformation into some half dog man thing, Negi had finished his spell using 75% of his remaining mana.

With a whisper Negi said, "_Fulgrantio Albicanis!_"

A massive beam, nearly two yards around, of electrical mana flew at the transformed Inugami. The beam slammed into Kotarou's chest and sent him airborne again. The Inugami's back broke through one of the gates arch's, coincidently destroying all three charms needed to break out of the time/space spell.

Negi spoke quietly, "_The Caller Cancels The Contract..._"

As the strange feeling of strength left him, exhaustion set in. Turning to Nodoka who had arrived to watch the tail end of the fight Negi smiled and muttered, "Hello..." He then turned to the other's who where rushing to him and smiled again, "Good, their safe..." Just as the other's and Nodoka reached him his eye's changed again from harsh silver to warm brown and then he passed out.

His last thought before blackness took him where on words that where going to become his personal motto.

"_Here I stood and I could do no other..._"

As the other's crowded around Negi's prone form, Asuna who had a distinctive feeling of deja vu, asked the group, "Now what?"

**TSAB Hull Number 117 **_**Lady Luck, 2AM The Next Day...**_

Lt. Mayweather was considered but one oddity in the freak show that was the rest of the crew, but he was unique in that he had a valid medical reason to be the way he was. It involved a costume party on a rare shore leave, a head injury, drunk paramedics (They where also at the party) and _another_ head injury.

Medical reasons aside, he still tended to get on the nerves of Ensign Jacobs who worked the navigation station with him. _If I hear one more 'arrr' I'm going to disembowel myself and strangle him with MY intestines._ Ok, maybe he did more then get on the good ensign's nerves, but let it be said that Lt. Mayweather was good at his job, very good, better then any other navigator in the TSAB in fact.

That was the main reason Captain Julie put up with his quirks and that discussion was once again proven sound when the Lt. turned around and announced to Admiral Jack, "Arrr! Cap'n, coming up on universe-1173437!" Jack checked the ships clock after a moment of surprise, "One hour, five minutes and thirty-two seconds early. Nice job Mayweather! How'd you manage that?" Mayweather gave a theatrical wave of his hand, "Tis no trouble if you have knowledge of the rocks and tides."

The Admiral was about to respond when the main elevator door opened disgorging Captain Julie. "Don't question it sir. Trust me. You'll end up with one hell of a migraine and need of a shrink." Jack smiled at the Captain. _How does she always know when I'm about to say something I shouldn't_. The Captain did not smile back, "How are the Marines?" Jack gave a lazy wave, "There fine."

The triplets on the weaponry station started whispering amongst themselves.

Hear No Evil, "I heard the Admiral threatened to space the whole lot of them if they didn't get their act straight!"

See No Evil, "Really? I heard he threatened to keel-haul the Marine CO!"

Shoot Evil In The Face, "I heard he was going to shove is his Intelligent Device Selphie up the Marine CO's a-" Julie coughed into her fist and said in a slightly reprimanding tone, "That's enough you three!" As one the triplets stood and saluted.

H.N.E., "Where-"

S.N.E., "Sorry-

S.E.I.T.F., "Captain."

Julie returned the salute, "As you where.." After the triplets returned to their station, Jack looked Julie in the eye, "Gather the troops Captain. Where in range to teleport to the source of that signal. When it shows up again I want to be ready." Then Jack smiled and said in a cheesy tone of voice, "Make it so number one!"

Julie, deadpan, spoke, "Been watching Star Trek again?"

Jack cocked his head to the side and spoke in exaggerated voice, "Yeah. How'd you know?"

_**End Chapter 8**_

Musical Inspiration

John's dream: Disturbed, Haunted

Lady Luck: Star Trek TNG, Opening Theme

Negi and the Steps: First Negima! Anime Opening Theme

Same Place: First Negima! Anime Closing Theme

Rest Stop: Metallica, St. Anger

Kotarou vs. Negi Round One: Prodigy, Smack My Bitch Up

Here I stood and I could do no other: Disturbed, Indestructible

**PREVIEW CHAPTER 9**

Zeio: Hahaha!

Chamo: Why are you laughing?

Zeio: Because I have time to write stuff like this now!

Chamo: Um, Zeio-san, I noted that I don't get a lot of screen time in this fic, why is that?

Zeio: Oh? That's simple! I don't like you!

Chamo: *Utterly crushed*

Zeio: Anyway, John! Why don't you come out and help me with the preview.

John: Can't, I'm in a coma remember?

Zeio: So? Get you're method acting ass out here on the double!

John: *Still lying down* ...

Zeio: Fine! Negi get down here and help me.

Negi: Can't, I'm unconscious remember?

Zeio: Oh no you don't! *Haul's Negi to his feet* Up and at'em!

Zeio and Negi: *Both take a deep breath* Next time on Negima! Void Caller Chron-

Zeio: Oh crap where out of time!

Till Next Time, all!

Chapter 9: _Awakenings, Movie things, and something else that rhymes!_

**A/N:** So, how was it? I plan on including the music stuff and the preview from now on. Oh and PM me about who you want to be paired up with John and Negi. One more thing, I'm looking for a beta and if anyone is interested PM me! Talk to ya'll later...


	9. Chapter 9 Vol 2

_**Chapter 9: Awakenings, Movie things, and Something else that rhymes!**_

**A/N:** Hey all! How's it going? Anyway here's a still warm out of the oven chapter for ya'll. Now that's out of the way let's get on with the show!

_**Laughing Dragon**_** Hot Spring 3:27PM**

John's eye's fluttered open and took in the room around him automatically while his mind went over the strange conversation that he had. _What was that shadow? And why did I feel compelled to answer? _The Spartan did a quick check to make sure he could move. _Lost limbs? No. Crippling pain? No. Broken bones? No. Good. _Getting up quickly John noticed he was wearing a yukata and that he was not in the room that he had been assigned.

John glanced at the gem on his left hand and muttered in Greek, "_Barrier Jacket. Set Up._" John's form was consumed with blue fire for a brief second and when it died down the Spartan was wearing a different set of clothes.

Black slacks with dark blue knee guards and silver armored boots now covered his lower body. His upper body was now clad in a basic black t-shirt and a dark blue vest opened. He was also now wearing a dark blue duster with dark green flames at the hem. His hands where now covered with fingerless dark blue gloves that left the gem on his left hand and the tattoo on his right palm exposed.

John needed a course of action and after a few seconds of thought came up with one. _I need to find Negi. I'll probably need to act overtly, so that 'discreet assistance' ROE is out the window for now._ _Time to ask around._ John quickly exited the room he was in and noticed that it was Negi's room.

_I wonder what they told the class?_ _Well... it doesn't matter now I guess._ John listened intently and picked up that some sort commotion was going on out side. Exiting by simply jumping out a nearby window, John circled the building and spotted Ku Fei sparing with Mana. Mana was quickly weaving around Ku Fei strikes, while Ku Fei was constantly trying different kung-fu styles. As John stepped out into the clearing both girls stopped their match to turn to see who had interrupted them.

Ku Fei, seeing who it was, blushed and looked down at the ground. Mana was having a hard time not blushing herself, as John cut a downright majestic figure in his barrier jacket, and that's not even mentioning the aura of peace he now exuded. John gave a polite but infinitely graceful bow and it took all Mana's self control not turn cherry red. Ku Fei had no such problem and promptly passed out from a nose bleed. John raised one silver cultured eyebrow at Ku Fei's actions and Mana felt a little bit of heat in her cheeks despite her ministrations.

John coughed into his fist and asked, "I'm looking for someone." Mana, quite unlike her, squeaked back, "Who?" John cocked his head at Mana quizzically and Mana's slight blush increased, "Negi-sense-" Mana pointed in a direction and John looked where she was pointing. Turning back, John asked in a questioning tone, "That way?" Mana nodded.

John gave her a small smile, displaying his perfect white teeth, and said, "Thank you for the help Tatsumiya-san." Mana joined Ku Fei in unconsciousness after John turned around gracefully and bounded away. Mana's last thought as she joined Ku Fei in darkness was, _What the hell was that?_

John decided to take to the air to cover more ground and the gem on his hand responded by saying, "_Pegasus Wing!_" in greek. Two small white wings appeared on each ankle. The Spartan shot into the air with one mighty heave of his legs. Once he gained a certain amount of altitude he stopped hovering and in greek muttered, "Search. Springfield, Negi."

The gem on his left hand spoke in greek with a heavily distorted male voice, "Subject, Springfield Negi, is out of range." John sighed and muttered, "I figured as much..." John thought for a few seconds and decided to try something. Speaking in greek, John asked, "Search. Konoe, Konoka?" The gem on his hand flashed once deep green and spoke in its distorted greek, "_The Three Fate's!_"

The Spartan raised his hand as a trio of dice with red and blue sides appeared. He threw them into the air and caught them as they came down. John opened his fist. Two of the dice had come up red, while one had come up blue. The gem on his left hand announced, "_Present!_" in greek and a holographic window opened in front of him, displaying a map of the area as he viewed it from his location. A large red dot with the tag 'Konoe, Konoka' on it moved across the map.

The window vanished a few seconds later and John flew toward the ground, deciding to walk. John's thoughts turned introspective as he made contact with terra-firma. _Have I been living? Or just going through the motions. I truly don't know, but for now I think I'll just 'go with the flow' as Curt used to say. _

As John set off through the underbrush at high speed a man in a brown trench coat and black fedora stepped out of some nearby shadows. "Look's like the boy's Called has summoned his item and from what I can tell, its _quite_ powerful." His shadow quickly rose from the ground and a small black cat took form on his shoulder. "Agreed. I can feel the magic of that gem from here. I think a little test is in order to find out it's abilities Jessie."

The fedora clad man shook his head bemusedly. "Don't call me that. The Master does not like us to use are... _former_ names." The cat on his shoulder yawned and looked in the direction John went. "Then let's get going, _Hatter..._"

_**Cinema Town**_**, Kyoto, 3:29PM**

The sound of running echoed down the streets as four figures ran on. Konoka, Setsuna, Yui and Haruna had been walking along like any other group when Setsuna started to run, taking Konoka with her. Yui and Haruna took a few seconds to process what had happened and then sprinted to catch up.

_This is bad!_ Thought Setsuna as a few more projectiles came flying through the air at Konoka. Setsuna casually snatched them out of the air causing Yui and Haruna to look at her questioningly. _Why are they attacking now? Before it was just harassment and trick's, now it's full-blown attacks, in broad daylight no less!_ Her thoughts where interrupted when Yui spoke up, "Huh! Isn't this Cinema Town? Did you want to go to Cinema Town Sakurazaki-san? You could have told us!"

Setsuna thought, _perfect_, and proceeded to scoop up Konoka in her arms. "I'm sorry Yui-san, Haruna-san. I want to alone with Oojo-sama for a bit!" Setsuna then jumped the wall separating the street from Cinema Town, leaving the now confused Haruna and Yui standing at the gates.

After a few seconds Haruna's face split in what could only be described as a perverted grin, while Yui was muttering to herself, "It should be impossible to jump that far by yourself, let alone with a person in your arms..." Haruna grabbed Yui's arm a few seconds later and said, "Come on Yui! All of a sudden I want to go to Cinema Town too."

In one of the back alleys of Cinema Town Setsuna breathed a sigh of relief. _Good, maybe they won't attack as overtly with all these people around._ "Nee, nee, Set-chan look!" Turning around, Setsuna was struck speechless. "Hehe. How do I look Set-chan?" Konoka was now clad in a elegant kimono that perfectly suited her. "Umm... ahh... you.. you look beautiful Oojou-sama."

Konoka smiled, "Set-chan come with me to those changing booths over there and I'll pick something out!" Setsuna weakly protested as Konoka dragged her to the booth's. A few minutes later Setsuna was wearing a Shinsengumi uniform and mildly blushing. "Yuunagi (A/N: Her big ass sword) doesn't suit this costume at all."

About two minutes later, Setsuna was wishing that she was a member of the real Shisengumi as she wouldn't have to deal with over enthusiastic fan girls asking for more pictures of her and Konoka. Her thoughts where interrupted by the arrival of a carriage. Tsukuyomi was dressed like some rich western noble women and started to talk. Some heated words where exchanged and Setsuna's fellow swordswomen challenged her to a duel.

Setsuna accepted and Tsukuyomi left.

_**Cinema Town **_**bridge, Kyoto, 3:54PM**

The fight was not going in Setsuna's favor. Tsukuyomi turned out to be a skilled swordswomen as she was and she had the advantage of a shorter weapon. As she and Tsukuyomi exchanged quick blow's her thoughts turned to the only positive thing to have happened in this situation. _At least Negi-sensei was able to get Oojou-sama away._ Setsuna spared a quick glance at Incou's group being... umm, attacked and/or molested by some low level spirits and monsters.

_How did they get involved in this again? _Her subconscious responded instantly, _by dumb luck and a large helping of Murphy's law. _Setsuna mentally struck her open palm with her fist, _Oh, right..._

Looking back at Tsukuyomi, Setsuna muttered, "Has the Shinmeiryuu taken to keeping monsters?" Tsukuyomi smiled and replied, "Don't worry. I won't hurt those children Setsuna-sempi." Setsuna was about to respond when a voice in her ear she knew spoke, "Move please..." Setsuna jumped back and several dark blue sphere's of energy flew at Tsukuyomi, who was forced to doge.

Setsuna heard a flat computer like voice announce something in a language she did not know nearby. As the barrage fell off, Tsukuyomi was reviled to be standing in the wreckage, unharmed but breathing heavily. Setsuna was about to attack when John, clad in some new clothes, placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Go, bodyguard. I'll handle this one." Setsuna was confused for a second but after breathing in deeply she was able to gather her wit's. Tsukuyomi's face flashed briefly to rage as Setsuna left but it quickly passed.

After Turing to John said in a overly sweet voice, "You took my sempi from me. You'll pay for that you silver haired bishsounen!"

Tsukuyomi launched herself from the wreckage at extreme speed's. John watched Tsukuyomi come with clinical detachment. After Tsukuyomi reached the halfway point, John crouched slightly and muttered in greek, "Move." The gem on his hand announced in greek, "_Hermes Flash!_" and John vanished, only to reappear with his open palm on Tsukuyomi's solar plexus. John looked her in the eye as Tsukuyomi mouthed 'bastard' and John shrugged as she fell unconscious. The Spartan spared a quick glance at his classmates to make sure they where all right.

The Monsters that Tsukuyomi had summoned where acting a bit off, like they where drunk. John thought about the tactical implications of leavening the monsters alone for half a second before mentally shook his head and acted. Two seconds later the various monsters and low level sprits that filled the area started to pop like balloon's. Ayaka had just taken care of a kappa and was about to go look for Negi when a giant cat statue... thing fell from the sky toward her. Ayaka crouched and closed her eyes, waiting for it to squash her.

Just as it was about to impact a glove clad hand shot out and held it at chest level while a voice Ayaka knew asked softly, "Are you alright Inchou?" Opening her eye's she beheld John in his blue glory with the giant cat... thing held with one hand. The Spartan slashed the... cat thing with his other hand and causing it to burst and release some smoke. Ayaka, unsure what to say, nodded.

John searched the area for more threats, while his classmates collected themselves. After a few brief seconds of awkward silence on the girls part Yui managed to ask, "Ano... John-san what are you doing here? I thought you fell down the stairs and where recuperating at the hot spring..." John, meanwhile, had his face in his palm.

_Fell down the stairs? That's my cover story? I'm grace incarnate compared to some of these people. Of all the stupid things to tell them... falling down the stairs. That's it! Next time I see Negi where going to have a little talk... Falling down stairs. Ughhh, I feel a headache coming on. _

The Spartan looked up from his palm and said in a slightly strained voice, "I got better." Yui, looking away and blushing, nodded. _Damnit! He's even got bishie sparkles now! _(A/N: Through a combination of light bouncing off the lake behind him and his sliver hair... or something.)

The other's where all blushing rather hard until John turned around and started to walk away. "I have to go. Excuse me." Kasumi was taking as many pictures as possible with a little disposable camera she had bought at a nearby street vendor. _I'm going to start selling these on campus! I'll make thousands! _She stopped taking pictures and looked down at her camera.

_I'm going to get to the bottom of you one day, John Springfield!_ (A/N: That's the fake name the Headmaster set John up with.) John moved quickly into a alleyway and muttered in greek, "Move."

"_Hermes Flash!_"

_**Cinema Town**_** castle roof, 3:54:32PM**

The arrow flew through the air with a evil hiss heading right toward Negi, Chamo and Konoka. As the arrow got closer to Negi something shocking happened, Negi smirked and stepped aside. Monkey women, A.K.A. Chigusa stared opened mouth as Negi's action's allowed the arrow to fly right past him and straight at Konoka.

A blur shot up the side of the castle and jumped in front of Konoka. The blur resolved itself into Setsuna with her arms wide, planning to take the arrow to protect her Oojou-sama. A inch away from her shoulder a hand with a gem on the back snatched it out of the air. John flexed a finger and the arrow was reduced to splinters. John eyed Negi and said in a soft voice, "I happen to know that Negi's unconscious. Meaning you're not him."

False Negi smiled, showing a bit too many teeth and asked in a equally soft voice, "How did you know?" John narrowed his eye's a bit, "Why should I give up any information... who am I talking to anyway?" Negi's body blackened and expanded. A few seconds later a man with hawkish features, a brown trench coat, a black body suit and a rather nice fedora stood in his place. The man smiled and gave a extravagant bow, "You may call me the Hatter, Called of Caller Negi Springfield."

Chigusa, in a annoyed tone, asked loudly, "Who are you two?" John ignored the women. "Setsuna-san." The swordswomen, who was rather shocked at this point, asked dazedly, "Yes?" John looked over his shoulder at her, "Take Konoka-san and run. This is not you're fight." Setsuna shook herself out of her stupor and nodded. Grabbing her Oojou-sama's hand, Setsuna took off leavening John, the strange man, Chigusa and the silver haired boy alone on the roof top.

Chigusa, tired of being ignored, stomped her foot and gestured at the demon she had summoned. "Fine, take care of them please. Hurry up, we have to capture Oojou-sama and the longer we take here, the bigger the lead that her and her bodyguard get." The silver haired boy said nothing and continued to watch. The demon raised it's bow again and prepared to fire. John, keeping the stranger in his line of sight, raised his left hand and snapped his fingers at the demon.

The gem on his hand announced in greek, "_Siren Song!_" A small chime sounded from the gem and the demon's eye's took on a glazed look and asked the Spartan, "Yes?" John gestured at Chigusa, "Keep her busy." The demon smiled and fired off a arrow at it's summoner. Chigusa ducked underneath the arrow and took off screaming at the demon as it continued to attack her. The silver haired boy moved to assist Chigusa but John made a slashing gesture at the boy's feet.

The gem, speaking in greek, announced, "_Chain's of the Kraken!_" A small blue magic circle appeared underneath the silver haired boy. Out of the circle shot black chain's that resembled octopus tentacles that quickly bound the boy. The stranger started to clap, "Bravo! I know about the 'no killing' rule that the Headmaster of you're school gave you and I must say I'm impressed with how you've stuck to you're guns, so to speak of course."

The stranger smiled. "I must say, you're rather strange for a Called. Most are just brutes or assassins, yet you appear to be rather clever. Tactic's wise at least. I must ask, however did you know I was not you're Caller?" John, feeling compelled to answer, said, "I felt him doing something then fall unconscious about a dozen minutes ago..." The smile vanished and cruel smirk replaced it. "Interesting that you're Bond has grown that strong in such a short amount of time. To bad I'm going to have to ki-" The stranger never got to finish his statement as John's right knee impacted full force into his face.

The stranger's head had snapped back while the Spartan was frowning internally as something about the hit felt... off. A shadowy hand shot out of the stranger's body suit and grabbed his exposed ankle. The hand then threw John a good dozen yards straight back. The Spartan skidded to a stop and quickly got to his feet. The hand retracted into the Hatter's body suit and the stranger chuckled, "That was rather rude." John was frowning and thinking hard, _I know I hit him. So, why is he still standing? I've snapped steel beams with the force I put in that blow._

The Hatter leaned foreword and smirked, "I can see you're confused. I'll give you a hint: I _AM_ Chaos Theory." The silver haired boy took in a quick breath and breathed out, "Chaos Magic..." The Hatter looked at the boy from the corner of his eye and his smirked deepened, "Someone knows their history, I see." John took the opportunity to attack, his gem announcing, "_Hermes Flash!_" John vanished and reappeared with a fist hovering over the Hatter's stomach.

The Hatter continued to smirk, unmoved and said quietly, "Seventeen hits? Not bad." The silver haired boy widened his eye's a bit and whispered, "I didn't see a the first hit, let alone the other sixteen..." The stranger's smirk curled into a sinister smile. "My turn!" The black body suit launched itself at John forming thousands of black blades and grinning fanged skull's. John vanished and reappeared by the silver haired boy with the black wave of death tearing up the roof toward them. The Spartan raised his left hand and muttered in greek, "Block." The gem announced, "_Titan Shield!_" and a huge magic circle appeared in front of John and the bound boy.

The two forces collided with a titanic '_Crack!_' and the people below where starting to get excited at how 'realistic the CG was'. A few seconds later the unstoppable force of the black wave broke against the immovable object that was John's shield. The wave receded back to the Hatter and became the body suit again. A small cat formed on the ground next to the Hatter a few seconds later. It hissed at John and said in a low voice to the Hatter, "That hurt! Never make me do that again!" The Hatter picked up the cat and started petting it, "Sorry Cheshire! The Master said to test him and you know what happens if I disobey..."

John was going to attack again while the Hatter was distracted when the boy beside him spoke up, "It won't work. That man is a Chaos Mage. His magic allows him to control probabilities. Any time you attack him his magic allows him to ignore the damage it would of caused, because it technically did _no_ damage."John looked over at the boy from the corner of his eye and said, "Thanks'." The boy continued to stare at the Hatter with dead eye's and said, "You have no need to thank me. You saved me from his attack, so i'm just returning the favor." John nodded and thought about several courses of action.

The Hatter spoke up, "I see the boy filled you in. Good, now you see how out matched you are! Give up! With Cheshire, my Called here, I have prefect offence and with my magic I have the prefect defense-" John cut him off and raised his right hand and made like he was holding a gun, "You talk to much." The gem announced, "_SHRIKE! Aries Aspect, Engaged!_" John's right hand was engulfed with blue fire for a moment and when it died down a massive blue pistol filled his hand. John took aim and pulled the trigger while his gem announced, "_Devastator Shot!_"

A blue beam of destruction flew across the intervening space instantly. The tiles underneath the beam started to smolder and smoke and those on the periphery of the beam cracked. The lance of deadly energy struck the Hatter right in the chest, sending him flying from the roof top and beyond. The boy beside John was wide eyed and breathless. In a horse voice he asked, "How? It should have been impossible to hurt him, let alone send him _flying_!" John said in a quiet voice, "I noticed that every time before I hit him he made a little, almost impossible to catch gesture. That led me to believe that his magic was bound to his reflexes. So, I hit him with something that was too fast to block."

The boy stared wide eyed at John, "You figured all that out after one little explanation!" John turned to the boy and dismissed the pistol, his gem announcing, "_Aries Aspect, Retrieved!_" "You can stay here for a while. That bind should hold you for a good part of the day. Now if you excuse me." John ran to the edge of the roof and jumped down.

Fate, the silver haired boy, stared at the spot John had jumped down from and muttered, "I wonder what his name is." Fate started to think, _I thought that Chaos Mages where all dead, that's what the Purge_(1)_ was supposed to do. How is one still alive? And in some kind of partner ship with a Shadow Cat_(2)_? Those things are extra planer! The amount of energy to summon one that powerful would take 90 percent of the local mage population!_ Fate was broken out of his thoughts when something came into his field of vision.

_What the hell?_ Eight men had appeared in a white magic circle. One man seemed to be posing while the other's stood normally. The posing man, clad in his blindly orange jacket, raised his head and started to bellow, "BEHOLD! The mighty and majestic TODD!" The man waited for a few seconds, then, with a annoyed snap of his fingers caused two of six white and blue uniformed men to pull out baskets and start throwing sakura petals in the air.

A much older man with a deep green jacket and gray hair blinked rapidly at Fate and exclaimed, "Jimmy! It's so good to see you! How are the kid's? And when did you become a midget! They must have spell's for everything these day's!" Fate looked on flabbergasted and one of the white and blue uniformed people stepped forward and coughed into his fist. "Excuse them. They don't get out much... yeah. Anyway, I'm Ken and where from the TSAB (A/N: Not gonna write that out every time, sorry). We would like to know if you've seen anyone... out of place."

Fate raised one silver eyebrow and asked, "You mean beside you?" The man was about to respond when Todd grandly gestured at Ken, "Hold peon! I will do the questioning here. I'm a Enforcer after all!" Ken narrowed his eye's at Todd and spoke through gritted teeth, "Sir. I can handle this- wait! You're hair Sir. the wind must of put it out of place!" Todd whipped out a mirror and fell to his knees before starting to cry. "NOOO! This can not be! The mighty Todd, out in public looking like a beggar! I'll never live this down!"

Ken then looked at the old man and gestured at Todd's boots. "Commander T'even look! Live Mana grenades!" The older man pounced on Todd's footwear and with a quickness that belied his age had snatched them off. With a yell of 'FIRE IN THE HOLE' the old man chucked them over the edge of the roof. Todd was right behind his boots over the edge. "You senile old lunatic! Do you have any idea what those cost!" A splash was heard, then silence.

Ken placed his hand on his chin and thought for a bit. "Oh yeah. I forgot he can't swim... Oh well..." The white and blue uniformed man turned back to Fate, "So, kid, about my question..." Commander T'even started to ramble about 'VC' while the men who had been throwing sakura petals the entire time looked at one another, "Does this mean we can stop now? Cause my arm's are getting tired." The other shrugged and said, "Don't know."

Both sighed and the first man muttered, "Great.."

Underneath a pile of rubble about two hundred yards away, the shadows started to move.

**Hull Number 117 **_**Star Fury**_** Class Dreadnought **_**Lady Luck,**_** A Few Minutes Later...**

Admiral Jack frowned at the com panel, "What do you mean 'You just missed it' ? The teleported tech tells me he place you right on top of the fight!" Sgt. 1st Class Ken Rendo (TSAB Marine Corps) shook his head, "I have a local here who saw the whole thing Sir he's also been bound with a similar style of magic to Mid's. He say's we just missed it by a minute or two." Ken looked off screen and seemed to be in deep thought.

A few seconds later he spoke. "Umm Sir. I think I know why we arrived late. The local I've got here knows about magic Sir, just not our type of magic. I think local mages are causing interference somehow." Jack looked over at the Captain. "It fit's with what's been going on with our equipment. Run a scan for magic, back ground and controlled, please."

Julie summoned a holographic keyboard and started to type away rapidly. Two minutes later, Julie's normally controlled face showed clear surprise. "Sir... This world and Mars are putting out more magic than ten Midchilda's..." Jack quickly pulled up the data Julie was looking at and frowned. "That should be impossible. That much magic would warp reality for a couple AU's. Unless..."

Jack speedily typed away and a moment later smiled. "No wonder they have that much magic. Julie, these people live in a Mana Well(3)." Julie cracked a small smile and issued some quick orders via com windows. "Transporter, recalibrate the Porter for a Mana well. Engineering make sure where shielded from any back lash. Sgt. Rendo get you're men back here."

Jack stood from the Captain's chair and turned to Julie smirking, "We've got some planning to do. Let's make it hap'en Cap'en!" Julie sighed and asked deadpan, "You've been dieing to use that, haven't you Sir?" Jack grinned and put a little extra bounce in his step as he entered the elevator.

"Yup!"

_**End Chapter 9...**_

_Glossary:_

_(1): The Purge was a movement on Mundis Magicas to get rid of Chaos Mages about twenty years ago. Chaos magic threatened to destabilize the dimensional imprint of Mundis it's self so they had to go. Considered a dark day in the history of the magical world._

_(2): A Shadow Cat is a extra plainer creature that feed's on other shadows, seen extremely rarely as the amount of magic needed to summon a normal sized one is huge, so only small Cat's have been seen. The cat the Hatter Called would be considered the largest and most powerful Cat to date._

_(3): A Mana Well is a dimension that has huge amounts of background magic gathered in life bearing worlds. They are rare, thus Jack and Julie's surprise._

_Musical Inspiration:_

John's awakening: Bestie Boy's, Girls

Cinema Town: System of a Down, Old School Hollywood

Cinema Town Bridge: Detroit Metal City, Slash Killer

Cinema Town Castle Roof: 36 Crazy Fists, We Cannot Deny

"Sorry Cheshire!": Papa Roach, Blood (Empty Promises)

"Behold! The mighty and majestic TODD!": Reel Big Fish, I'm Cool

_Lady Luck_: Bestie Boy's, Intergalactic

**PREVIEW CHAPTER 10**

Zeio: *In swim trunks* Where's that Shark? I'm supposed to be jumping it for the fourth time!

Chamo: Ano... Zeio-san should you be wanting to be jumping it at all?

Zeio: Quiet Token Mascot Character! I know what I'm doing!

Chamo: *Utterly crushed... again*

John: I blew it up...

Zeio: You blew what up?

John: The Shark. It was getting in the way of my new Job *Gestures at his Life Guard gear*

Zeio: I suppose that makes sense... I think?

Negi: Ano, Zeio-san, when am I going to wake up? I'm getting a cramp laying here.

Zeio: Oh that? Hmmm... I'll get back to you on that!

Negi: *Start's to cry*

Zeio: Asuna! You're not unconscious at the moment, come help me do the preview!

Asuna: I'll help as long as you don't knock me out next chapter...

Zeio: I make no promises...

Zeio & Asuna: Next time on Negima! Void Callers Chronicl-

Zeio: Where out of time again!

Till next time, ya'll!

Chapter 10: _One long night! Part One_

**End A/N:** I've got one vote for Mana so far as for pairings and nothing for Negi. I hope you like battle with the Hatter and John, even if both where holding back _massively_. A rematch is coming up soon with Negi in the action. Caller vs. Caller, Called vs Called! Woo!


	10. Chapter 10 vol 3

_**Chapter 10: One Long Night! Part One**_

**A/N:** Please R&R! I've got nearly five thousand hits but very few review's these last few week's!

**The Path to The Kansai Magical Association HQ, 4:13PM**

Negi shot awake and nearly fell off of the rock he had been laying upon. He was a bit disoriented because his hearing had a strange ringing going on and his vision was a bit blurry. He could hear muffled voices talking to him and he could make out two indistinct shapes, but that was it. The memory of his fight with Kotarou came flooding back to him and he had only one thought, _What happened near the end?_

With a jolt, his senses readjusted themselves and the blur's became Asuna and Nodoka looking worried. "Negi! Are you all right?" Negi blinked and looked himself over. _No pain? That's odd._ He gave both girls a smile and said, "I feel fine. Better then ever in fact!" _Impossibly so..._

He shook his head a little to clear the cobwebs and tried to stand. Asuna and Nodoka moved to assist, but, after a wobbly start he stood tall (Well as tall as a 10 year old can). He looked at Nodoka and remembered her appearance during the fight. "Ano... Nodoka-san, not to be rude, but why are you here?" Nodoka reddend and, looking away, said quietly, "I... I fallowed you from the game center, Sensei. I just wanted to see you."

Negi gave her a small smile and said in a soothing voice, "It's ok Nodoka-san. I was just wondering what you where doing there. I have to ask though, that you not talk about what you saw." _Mainly because I don't know what happened either._ "The consequences for me if you said anything would be... unpleasant for me." Nodoka returned the smile and said softly. "I won't tell a soul Sensei. But to think that Negi-sensei is a mage and a child teacher! It's just like something out of a adventure book!" Asuna's thoughts on the matter where along the lines of '_people who read lots of book's sure are different...'_

Chamo leaped onto Nodoka's shoulder and started to talk excitedly, "Aniki! I think she should be a part of our group! I think she's wonderful partner material, I mean just look at her artifact!" Negi and Asuna where about to respond when distant chatter could be heard drifting down the path. Negi, oddly enough, instinctively assumed a defensive stance.

Setsuna, Konoka, Yui, Haruna, Kasumi and John where all ambling down the path, chatting up a storm. Well the girls where, John was busy looking for threats. A few words where exchanged and the two groups joined up. Nodoka, Yui and Haruna moved a little bit foreword, while John, Negi, Asuna and Kasumi hung back.

Asuna whispered to Setsuna, "What are they doing here? And what's with John? I thought he was still in a coma!" Setsuna looked away and muttered a little bit red faced, "They fallowed me and John-san woke up about thirty minutes ago. He helped me protect Oojou-sama and I decided to come here." Asuna cocked her head to the side and asked confused, "What do you mean?"

Setsuna was about to respond when Kasumi rushed foreword yelling, "Hey, what's that?" Yui and Haruna fallowed excitedly causing Asuna and Negi to freak out a bit. The sound of three dozen voices speaking in sync caused Asuna, Negi and (Briefly) John to stop and stare.

"_Welcome Home Konoka Oojou-sama!_"

**Main Hall, K.M.A. HQ, A few Minutes later.**

"Umm, Chief-san, I have a letter for you from the Chief of the East, Konoe Konoemon and principle of Mahora Academy. Please accept it!" Konoka's father smiled and took a quick glance around the room. Asuna, Yui, Haruna and Kasumi all looked a little dazed. Konoka looked as she always did and Setsuna hovered protectively in the background. The blue clad stranger was scanning the room silently.

The Chief was very interested about John. He had heard a lot of story's about him since his strange arrival and he was going to find out if at least some of them where true. But he had thing's to attend to first. He smiled and said, "I know all about it Negi-kun and I thank you for coming here." He gently plucked the letter from Negi's hand and looked it over quickly.

'Can't you even get control of you're henchmen, son-in-law-dono!' _Huh, father-in-law is still harsh as always_. He smiled again and said softly, "Thanks' to this I'll be able to get rid of the differences between the East and West!" He gave everyone a soft smile. "Now I'm sure you're all tired. I suggest that you all spend the night here and I'll send you all back to the hot spring you're staying at by car in the morning."

The attendants lining the walls took that as their queue to show Negi and co. around the estate. He motioned at Setsuna and John and the attendant's headed toward them backed off. Both Setsuna and John noticed the gesture. Setsuna prostrated herself before the Chief and started to speak, "Sir! You would speak to me?" The Chief waved a hand in the air. "Mah mah, no need to get so formal."

His voice grew a little softer as he started to speak, "I want to thank you for protecting Konoka for these last two years. You responded to all my selfish requests and you did well." Setsuna blushed under the praise and started to speak hurriedly, "Ah... no protecting Oojou-sama has always been my wish. I... I must apologize. Today I was unable to protect Oojou-sama and if it wasn't for John-san I don't know what I would have done."

"I heard all about it. It seems I have to thank you... John was it? May I call you John?" John paused in his scan to give a small bow and say. "It was the right thing to do." Setsuna looked at John for a quick second, her face showing confusion at John's choice of words. The Chief smiled and remarked, "I think that if meant nothing happened to you Setsuna-kun, I would say that's quite fortunate."

The Chief placed a finger on his chin and adopted a thinking pose, "I think a lot of you're problems, Setsuna-kun, could be solved if Konoka knew about magic. I thought by hiding it from her, she could have the life of a normal girl. I guess I was wrong." He then spoke in a serious tone then. "I want you to tell her about magic... discreetly please, Setsuna-kun."

Setsuna was speechless. "Chief... are you sure?" He smiled. "Yes." He then turned to John, "Now then. I've heard many thing's about you, John. And I have a hard time letting someone I don't know be around one of my best friends son's." He leaned forward a bit, "So, with you're permission, I would like to spare with you!"

John's jaw fell a bit and Setsuna started to sputter, "But, but, but... Chief!" He laughed at that and wore the biggest grin Setsuna had ever seen him sport, "You know the old saying! The only way to truly know someone is to fight them! And I haven't gotten to fight in ages, so I want to see if I still got it."

John took a whole ten seconds to compose himself and answered, "Alright..."

**Main Dojo, K.M.A. HQ, Five Minutes Later**

Kasumi happened to be walking by when she had overhead a few attendants talking, "Have you heard? The Chief is going to be fighting that foreigner!" One responded, "The little boy?" The one who spoke shook her head, "No! That hunk of a man the little one brought with him!" Kasumi smiled and whispered, "What a scoop!" She arrived just as both fighter's walked into separate changing room's and found a place to observe the fight unnoticed.

The Chief and the Chief (A/N:I Just realized this... HAHAHA *Chokes*) had changed into gi's of opposing colors (John blue and the Chief red) and after walking out into the middle of the massive dojo, had assumed defensive stances. John's stance was loose with a emphasis on his lower body while Konoka's father's was extremely tight with no emphasis.

A full minute passed in silence before Konoka's father attacked. Taking a big step forward he lashed out with right straight. John responded by quickly slapping away the fist and lashing out with a quick left straight kick. The Chief grabbed John's ankle with his left hand and swiveled around trying to land a elbow strike on the top of John's head with his right arm. John leaned way back, used his left knee to block the elbow strike, struck the Chief in his side with his right foot and turned his lean into a back flip.

Both fighter's paused and took stock of each other. The Chief touched his side lightly and spoke quietly, "You held back... why?" John answered promptly, "Because at full strength I can punch through a M1A3 Abrams tank's front armor."

The Chief opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, "Oh... thanks I guess..." Konoka's father looked around the dojo quickly and placed his hand in a peculiar hand gesture. He muttered a few words and several hidden charm's on the wall's glowed, causing the wall's to glow golden as well.

"You can stop holding back now. The wall's are now enforced with magic to prevent sound and any damage we might cause." John looked around quickly and nodded. Kasumi, who had hid in a adjoining room, thought. _God! I wish I had my camera now. This is getting good!_

Konoka's father smiled and disappeared after whispering, "_Instant Movement!_". He reappeared behind John swinging his left fist with enough Ki to destroy a small office building. John ducked underneath the blow and the gem on his left hand announced in Greek, "_Hermes Flash!_" John reappeared behind the Chief throwing a right straight kick. The Chief was momentarily surprised at the movement spell, so he was caught off guard. The kick slammed full force into Konoka's father's back, but he managed to use his Ki to guard against the majority of the damage.

The Chief forgot one important thing though even if he did nullify the damage, John had just kicked him with the force of a anti-tank missile. Konoka's father went flying. He reoriented himself in the air and threw a charm at the far wall of the dojo and said a single word, "COME!" The charm burst into smoke and a green man sized beetle appeared.

The beetle spread it's wings, took flight and caught the Chief. It gently placed him on the ground and dismissed itself. The Chief quickly threw four charms into the air and shouted, "_THE FOUR WINDS!_" Each charm started to hover in the air before bursting into the shape of the kanji symbols for East, West, North and South.

John, meanwhile, had closed the distance by half in the half second it took for the Chief to right himself. The Chief gestured at John and the North symbol turned into a massive ball of air and shot at John at super-sonic speeds. John rolled underneath the ball and used his momentum attempt to slide kick the Chief. He gestured at John again and the South symbol changed into a pillar of air that flew along the floor right at John.

John responded to this threat by teleporting himself beyond the pillar. The Chief gestured with both of his hand's this time at John and the two remaining charms changed into two wind blades that zoomed toward the Spartan at point blank range. The Chief's mind caught up with his action's a micro-second later. _Oh shit! My body reacted automatically and responded with lethal force! Come on kid, MOVE!_

John stood his ground and, with a deceptively slow motion, slashed with his left hand at the approaching razor sharp winds. His left hand was instantly shrouded in blue fire and the gem announced, "_Demos' Aspect: Shield Of The Moon!_" Just as the blades where about to hit a large dark blue magic circle with a crescent in the center appeared in front of the Spartan.

The two forces collided and large amounts of dust obscured John for a few seconds. When the dust cleared John stood unharmed with a dark blue metal gauntlet now adorning his left arm. He quickly raised his right palm and blue fire sprouted from his tattoo taking the shape of a elegant dark blue long sword still in it's sheathe.

His gem announced, "_Peruses Aspect Engaged!_" The Spartan, lightning quick, slipped the blade through the belt of his gi and prepared to draw the sword right handed. The Chief, seeing John was ok, prepared another charm. He threw the charm into the air and with a pop, another man sized beetle appeared. This one was colored blue with the kanji for 'Defense' on the tip of it's massive horn. Konoka's father nodded once at it as it looked at him and it assumed a position in front of it's summoner.

John's gem announced "_Hundred Cut's!_" as he drew the blade in a flash of light. Spark's started to fly all around the beetle and the Chief as the sound of a machine gun hitting a gong filled the room. John reseethed his blade and dozen's of very small cuts appeared on the beetles shell. Three small cuts on the Chief's left arm started to bleed as well.

Konoka's father was about to order the beetle to attack when John unsheathed his blade again with his gauntleted hand this time. The moment the two pieces of magical equipment made contact a dark green flame design emerged on both weapons. The SPARTAN-II crouched slightly and the gem, that was still visible even with the gauntlet on, announced, "_Titian Fusion: God Cut!_"

Both sword and gauntlet changed color to gold and started to crackle with lightning before John disappeared. A second half second ticked by and the Chief was starting to wonder what had happened when his beetle split evenly down the middle before bursting into a cloud of smoke.

The Chief quickly looked around and with a frown summoned a small army of beetles. _Damn. This kid is good!_ _I did not think this fight would last this long, let alone with me on the defensive! _His thoughts where interrupted when about five of his beetles split down the middle and burst into smoke. _I saw nothing... Damn this is bad._ Another ten beetles split down the middle. A half second later twenty fallowed their comrades in being bisected.

Soon only the Chief and five of the toughest, biggest beetles remained. All of them where searching the area for their assailant franticly. A whole ten seconds ticked off and the Chief was starting to sweat. Another second ticked off and, suddenly, the beetles heads slide off their body's and burst into smoke. The Chief felt a blade pressed against his neck and a steel hard voice say quietly, "Yield..."

The Chief glanced at John from the corner of his eye and smiled once before bursting into smoke and a small piece of paper with his name on it floated toward the floor. A blade shaped like a insect wing was pressed against John's throat and the Chief asked in a cheerful voice, "I think yielding would be a good idea..." John was silent, but, when his gem announced, "_Blade of Illusion!_" a tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He faded from view and the Chief felt a familiar blade pressed against his throat.

"Yield... please." The Chief laughed and said, "Alright, alright. I yield!" The blade was lifted away and Konoka's father let out a sigh of relief. That's when the gem on John's hand announced, "_Illusion Off!_" and John faded from view again only to reappear on the other side of the room. The Chief jaw fell a little bit and he mumbled out, "He never got near me..." John reseethed his blade and both the gauntlet and sword turned to blue tinted ash that was sucked by some invisible force into his gem.

"_All Aspects Retrieved!_" The Chief shook his head a bit and smiled. "I think I've seen all I need to. Thanks' for the fight! I haven't felt this good in ages. I have to ask though what is that gem's name?" John walked over a little unsteadily over to the Chief and said, "S.H.R.I.K.E." The Chief, seeing John's condition, asked, "Are you ok?" The Spartan steadied himself and shook his head before speaking softly, "I can't keep that many Aspect's up for long. Take's up to much mana. Anyway, the gem's name S.H.R.I.K.E. stand's for Special Heuristic Responsive Intelligent Kinetic Engine. Means it's a magical A.I. that can predict the possible outcomes of any situation and comes with some serious magic based firepower."

The Chief's brow furrowed and nodded, "Huh... well I've worked up quite a sweat. Let's go collect Negi, I've got some things to talk to him about and I think the hot spring we have on the grounds would do us both some good..."

Kasumi was in shock at what she just saw but after a minute of stillness started to curse, "DAMNIT! I WISH I HAD MY CAMERA!"

_**End Chapter 10 Vole 3**_

_**Musical Inspiration:**_

The path to the HQ, Fist Negima! Anime opening song.

Main hall, Let The Good Times Roll, Powerman 5000

Dojo, When Worlds Collide, Powerman 5000

**PREVIEW CHAPTER 11 VOLUME 3**

Zeio: WHAT IS YOUR'E NAME?

Konoka's dad: I DON'T KNOW!

Zeio: HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW YOUR'E OWN NAME?

Konoka's dad: BECAUSE YOU DON'T!

Zeio: Ohhhhh... Right.

Chamo: *Opens mouth to say something*

Zeio: Silence walking dish rag!

Chamo: *Crushed... Again*

Zeio: I need help for the preview!

John: Not me. You're turning me into a manga action hero... God I miss my gun's. *Sigh's*

Negi: Not me. I only got a little bit of screen time and my contract clearly states that 'I' am the lead of this little escapade. *Pull's out cell phone to talk to his lawyers*

Zeio: *Turn's on hidden cell phone jammer* None of that now! Quick! Konoka get you're lesbo ass out here!

Konoka: I resent that remark...

Zeio: *Long stare*

Konoka: *Looks away* Even if it is true...

Zeio & Konoka: Next time on Negim-

Zeio: Damnit! Not again!

_Next time on Negima! Void Callers Chronicle: One Long Night! Part Two!_

**E/N:** Hey all! Sorry this chapter is so short I got caught up in work and Final Fantasy XIII. The next chapter will be longer I swear. Anyway the votes on pairing's is still with Mana in the lead so if you want a different leading lady VOTE! Talk to you later, bye!


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